Monday’s federal budget included plenty of little items, but it failed to deliver on some of the key issues that it was expected to address.

The budget didn’t deal with a couple of the central provisions of its income trust tax legislation, most notably the proposed income trust tax itself. There was speculation that the trust tax could appear in the budget, forcing opponents to topple the government by defeating the budget if they truly wished to oppose the government’s proposal.

Additionally, some commentators had hoped that the income-splitting plans, which that were announced for seniors as part of the income trust tax plan, would be expanded to all taxpayers, not just seniors. However, these hopes were dashed.

The budget is also a bit of a disappointment on the retirement savings front. While it tinkers with the RRSP and RESP rules, the budget does not raise the contribution limits on RRSPs, nor does it introduce any sort of alternative retirement savings vehicle for lower-earning Canadians, such as tax prepaid savings plans. And its move to raise the age limit for RRSP and RPP conversions is rather modest, given that life expectancies are increasing. There was some hope that if it raised the limits, it would push them up to age 73 in recognition of that.

There were also no broad-based tax cuts in today’s budget. Again, there was some speculation that Ottawa would reduce the rate on the lowest bracket as a way to reduce the burden on lower-income families. Nor did it deliver any corporate tax cuts, preferring instead to tinker with capital cost allowances in a number of areas.

Moreover, it failed to deliver on its pre-election promise to provide some broad capital gains tax relief. This was another possibility (similar to extended income-splitting) that was acknowledged as likely too expensive for the present budget, but optimists held out hope nonetheless.