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By Greg Kyllo / Shuswap MLA

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: NDP taxes continue to take toll on B.C. businesses

Dec 6, 2019 | 12:17 PM

AS WE NEAR THE end of this decade and roll into 2020, I hope that the double-meaning of that number is not lost on British Columbians. It also refers to one’s clarity of vision — in other words, being able to see everything in front of you.

What I see is a province full of pure potential, run by a government that is often punitive towards small business. What is clearly visible, is that the current taxation scheme introduced by this NDP government is having a disastrous impact on many British Columbians. Every day we are faced with tax increases that are slowly draining our wallets and filling the government coffers.

Some of these you don’t even notice. Although there has not been an increase in GST or PST, a myriad of other taxes have snuck into the cost structure of virtually every business in the province. Add to this skyrocketing ICBC rates, a staggering 25,800 private-sector jobs lost last month and other blindsiding cost increases, and you have a recipe for pretty terrible financial pie graph.

The Employer Health Tax (EHT), introduced as a payment plan to eliminate Medical Services Premium payments, is one of these taxes. It places a tax on any business with a payroll of over $500,000.

How does a business then pay it? They have to cut services, or in the case of retail businesses, raise prices, then pass that tax on to the consumer. You may not be paying MSP specifically, but you are certainly paying for the tax that offsets it.

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Here is where a difference in approach by the previous BC Liberal government shows. We were also going to eliminate MSP, but on the back of a surplus budget and economic prosperity, not through a tax that burdens B.C. businesses.

But it is not only the business community that has felt the sting of the EHT. This summer the Victoria Police Department had to cut their entire Crime Reduction Unit in order to afford the new EHT. They had to find nearly $700,000 in savings to pay this tax. There is only one way to reduce that cost and that is to cut services. This is not conducive to public safety and should not be how we pay for MSP. Just the other week we also learned how the EHT forced a $10 million budget cut to provincial RCMP services, affecting rural policing.

Fuel price increases have impacted everyone in this province from commuters to shipping companies to the costs of goods. NDP-implemented fuel taxes and an increase to the carbon tax, which is not fully earmarked for climate action, has led to a sharp increase in costs that businesses are being forced to bear. This also trickles down to every British Columbian.

Another example of the disregard for business bottom line by the NDP is the issue of the split-zoning “air tax” which is placing huge pressures on small businesses through dramatically higher property taxes based on the unused air space above their business.

They are being taxed like high-rises when they are obviously not. How is that fair?

This is resulting in the hollowing out of many neighbourhoods as more and more small businesses make the painful decision to lay off employees and close their doors, forever changing the identities of our neighbourhoods and communities. My colleague from Kamloops South-Thompson introduced a private members bill in the B.C. legislature to address this issue, but was inexplicably shot down — an NDP decision that will unnecessarily cost small business owners thousands.

The outcome of an increase to the corporate tax structure has also begun to rear its ugly head as businesses shy away from investing in B.C. due to the NDP’s inane policy decisions. The NDP were lucky when they came to power as they inherited the strongest economy in the country. Now, the cracks in their decisions are starting to show. Economic storm clouds are on the horizon yet the NDP simply looks the other way — this is not sustainable. Add to this situation months-long job losses and I fear for the long term effects on many parts of B.C.

What is clear is that the direction the current government is leading this province is a dangerous one, lacking prosperity and rife with frustration.

I hope 2020 can be the year that John Horgan and his team take their blinders off and start working for the betterment of everyone in this province, and that includes businesses.