Image Credit: Canadian Press

By Canadian Press

BC BUDGET

Top earners, pop drinkers pay more in British Columbia budget

Feb 18, 2020 | 2:01 PM

VICTORIA — Top income earners and pop drinkers are being hit with new taxes in today’s B.C. budget, which continues the government’s focus on capital spending for schools, hospitals and transit.

Finance Minister Carole James is introducing a new 20.5 per cent tax bracket that will cover the top one per cent of income earners in B.C., or those earning more than $220,000 annually.

James says the government will also start charging the provincial sales tax of seven per cent on sweetened carbonated drinks to help address the health and economic costs of the beverages.

The government is bringing in a new grant program as well this fall for post-secondary school students that will provide up to $4,000 a year to offset tuition fees, with as many as 40,000 people being eligible for the $24-million program.

James says a record $22.9 billion will be spent on capital projects including on the new St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, student housing and schools for kids in kindergarten to Grade 12.

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The budget forecasts surpluses for the next three years with the government finishing 2020-21 $227 million in the black.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 18, 2020.