BC – The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is cautiously optimistic about recent recommendations made by the BC Commission on Tax Competitiveness.
“The Commission’s recommendations reflect many of the key points we made to the Commission and are an excellent start to reforming the broken BC PST and other issues in the provincial tax system”, said Richard Truscott, Vice-President of BC and Alberta.
“We would like to thank the Commission for its work in laying out the groundwork on how to improve the tax environment in BC. Fully implemented, these tax reforms would help many small businesses.”
The Commission’s focus on the PST is critical, as it is one of the most debilitating taxes for small business owners. Two-thirds of entrepreneurs say they were negatively impacted by the transition back to the PST, while only ten per cent experienced a positive impact.
The key recommendation – to remove PST on business inputs of machinery, equipment, and software – will remove one of the biggest issues in the current system. Earlier this year CFIB presented this very recommendation to the Commission, as 85 per cent of small business owners consider removing the PST from machinery and equipment a high priority for the provincial government.
“This is an important first step,” notes Truscott. “However, the Commission rightly points out that a longer-term solution, like a made-in-BC value-added tax, will still be needed.”
Now that the government has received the Commission’s recommendations, CFIB encourages the government to table a plan to implement them. “We now have a game plan, with both tax expert and small business support,” concludes Truscott. “Now it’s time for the government to show real commitment by quickly adopting today’s recommendations.”