BIABC Says Small Business is Getting Squeezed Under Layers of Increasing Taxes
JEFF BRAY
BRITISH COLUMBIA – As the provincial government prepares to unveil Budget 2024, Business Improvement Areas of British Columbia (BIABC), is encouraging the province to resist the urge to add to an expanding list of new and increasing taxes that are significantly impacting both businesses and consumers.
BIABC, the organization that represents 70 business districts and more than 55,000 businesses on main streets and downtowns across our province, says layers of taxation are choking businesses which have no option but to absorb those costs or partially pass them on to consumers.
“It is no secret that British Columbians are facing an affordability crisis,” says BIABC President Jeff Bray. “But government needs to understand with each new or increased tax measure, they are not only strangling small and medium sized business, they are leaving those same business owners with no option but to adjust their bottom line by reducing staff, modifying operations and/or passing those costs onto the buying public.”
“Our government cannot on one hand suggest that it is sympathetic to the plight of British Columbians who are facing runaway inflation when they are very much playing a role in exacerbating the affordability crisis.”
Among recent measures that have contributed to the challenge, the province has shifted the burden for health premiums onto employers with the elimination of the Medical Services Plan (MSO) premiums and the implementation of a health care payroll tax. Additionally, increased corporate income taxes, annual minimum wage hikes, and the reversion back to the PST, have collectively impacted the business community by approximately $3.7 billion in 2022 alone.
Government has also implemented five days of mandatory paid sick leave for all employers, which not only requires a business owner to pay the employee, but also the costs associated with backfilling that position. Furthermore, the province has recently adopted a new statutory holiday, one that is supported and valued by the business community, but also represents an estimated $200 million impact on BC business owners according to a BMO Capital Market study.
And when compounded with mounting debts, CEBA loan repayments and the costs associated with rampant property crime and vandalism, businesses cannot continue to bear the burden of new and increasing government-imposed taxes and policies.
“The past four years have created an unprecedented set of challenges for small businesses, and they have shown incredible resiliency and adaptability,” continued Bray. “However, many are reaching a point where they are no longer able to bend, and they are starting to break.”
BIABC continues to advocate for solutions that support long-term economic development and resiliency for the small business sector, which is the economic engine of our province, and essential to a thriving economy. We hope to be spared any new taxes in the 2024 Budget, and implore the province to explore opportunities to minimize the impact of employer-related costs on small businesses, such as:
- Increasing the Employer Health Tax (EHT) threshold from $500,000 to $1,500,000.
- Supporting the burden of the 5-day paid sick day policy through a form of small business rebate or tax incentive.
Jeff Bray is President of the BIABC
The Business Improvement Areas of BC (BIABC) is the provincial champion of strong, vibrant, and successful downtowns, main streets, and commercial districts throughout our province. Members represent more than 70 business districts that employ hundreds of thousands of retail, service, and office employees within defined business districts.
