Switching from one sales tax to another and BC Ferries dominated a roundtable discussion among Powell River community representatives and Naomi Yamamoto, BC’s minister of state for small business.
The discussion took place Monday morning, January 21, at Powell River Town Centre Hotel. Powell River Chamber of Commerce hosted the event. City of Powell River Mayor Dave Formosa, along with councillors Maggie Hathaway, Debbie Dee and Chris McNaughton, attended, as well as MLA Nicholas Simons, BC Liberal Party candidate in the Powell River-Sunshine Coast riding Patrick Muncaster and representatives from the chamber, Powell River Community Futures, Powell River Regional Economic Development Society (PRREDS), Vancouver Island University, Career Link and First Credit Union.
“If you have a strong chamber and a strong credit union, you have a strong community,” said Yamamoto, who described herself as a small business owner before she entered provincial politics.
Yamamoto encouraged small business owners to prepare for the return of the PST (provincial sales tax) on April 1.
Prior to the introduction of the 12 per cent harmonized sales tax (HST) in July 2010, BC residents paid a combination of the federal government’s goods and services tax (GST) and the PST on most items. The HST was defeated in a province-wide referendum in the summer of 2011, after a successful campaign to scrap the tax.
The seven-per-cent PST is being re-implemented on April 1 with all permanent exemptions. Consumers will pay PST only on those goods and services that were subject to the tax before July 1, 2010. Consumers will again not pay PST on purchases like food, restaurant meals, bicycles, gym memberships, movie or event tickets, children’s clothing or for personal services like haircuts.
The reintroduction of the PST will also impact low-income residents. The BC HST credit provides up to $230 annually and 1.1 million BC residents received quarterly HST credit payments.
The $230 BC HST credit will be replaced with the $75 PST credit when the PST is re-implemented. A family of four received almost $1,000 annually under the HST credit program.
Scott Randolph, PRREDS manager, raised the issue of BC Ferries during the discussion. “The system needs to be fixed once and for all,” he said. “Increasing costs are killing businesses.”
McNaughton said the government needs to bring in a “quantum shift” in the ferry system and return it to the highway system. He said the government needs to address issues including replacing aging vessels, rising fares and home porting the Powell River-Comox vessel in Powell River. “The government made a conscious decision to open up the province with roads,” he said. “The ferry system is the highway to our community.”
The roundtable took place at the beginning of Red Tape Awareness Week, January 21 to 25. Yamamoto said BC is a model for other jurisdictions seeking to reduce red tape and it leads the country in reforming regulatory requirements.
Tools and services available to help businesses prepare for the re-implementation of the PST include: one-on-one consultations with a government tax specialist; online webinars covering the general principles of the PST and eTaxBC; PST bulletins and notices; and videos, including an overview for businesses and online registration. More information is available online.
