There’s mounting pressure on the province from members of the business community to drop a sales tax expansion that would impact a range of services, including accounting, engineering, and the security industry. The push comes just one week after a provincial committee recommended repealing the seven per cent PST to “simplify and streamline taxation systems.” In February’s budget announcement, the NDP revealed it would be introducing this change to the PST, stating, “B.C.’s economy has shifted significantly toward services, which have largely remained untaxed under the PST.” ‘Bureaucratic nightmare’ Michael Jagger, the CEO of Provident Security, whose business will likely be impacted by the new regulations, said the cost will fall on consumers. Jagger criticized the expansion and said there has been little communication from the province about how it will be rolled out. “It’s just a bureaucratic nightmare that offers zero value, wastes time, and distracts from what the government should be doing, which is helping to make it easier to grow and expand,” he said. The change also adds pressure on organizations already stretched financially, including Vancouver-based non-profit Megaphone Magazine. Lisa Curry, the executive director, said Megaphone was recently forced to lay off a staff member due to these challenges. She added that the new tax on using a bookkeeper will stretch the organization even further. “Every increase in cost is putting pressure on the non-profit sector,” said Lisa Curry, executive director of Megaphone Magazine. “We are seeing funding stagnate, if not pull back or disappear completely.” Advocacy group wants levy removed Jeremy Heighton, president of the Business Improvement Areas of British Columbia, a group that advocates for businesses across the province, said the organization conducted a survey and found 90 per cent of respondents expressed concern. Heighton said the group wants the tax repealed entirely. “When the government continues to layer these taxes on top of each other, eventually that business no longer becomes viable,” Heighton said. “We’re seeing, anecdotally, at the street level, a higher rate of business turnover than we’ve typically seen in the last probably 10 years.” On Aug. 11, the Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services issued a report, which included a recommendation that the PST expansion be removed. In a statement, NDP MLA Paul Choi, who sits on the committee, said, “The purpose of the committee’s report is to solicit ideas from across the province and ensure that those are considered in the budget process, not to reflect the views of individual members.” Choi added, “By including a range of ideas in the report, we help ensure that everyone’s voices are heard. I and the other B.C. NDP committee members support our government’s choices that ensure there is sufficient revenue to fund healthcare and maintain the lowest middle-class taxes in Canada.” On Friday at an unrelated press conference, Premier David Eby was asked about the committee’s report. “No one’s happy about taxes; we’re not happy about taxes, that’s why we’ve worked to reduce expenses for British Columbians everywhere we can,” he said. “From the carbon tax, car insurance, hydro rates, and ensuring the lowest income taxes for working people earning less than $100,000 in any province in Canada.” The Ministry of Finance said, for architectural, engineering, and geoscience services, 30 per cent of the service is taxed at 7 per cent, meaning that paid tax works out to about 2 per cent of the total price of the services. The expanded PST is set to take effect Oct. 1 and is expected to bring in $284 million in revenue by the end of the fiscal year.
