The Canadian Taxpayers Federation released its annual New Years Tax Changes report last week, with the major change for B.C. coming in the form of a health tax shift.

“While we finally get to drop the Medical Services Premium and fully switch over to the Employer Health Tax, taxpayers need to remember that we are all still paying the tax, just in a different form,” said Kris Sims, B.C. Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation at a recent press conference outside of Surrey City Hall. “Cities and municipalities such as Surrey must pay the new Employer Health Tax to the provincial government, and that means that property taxes are going up across B.C. to cover the new cost.”

About 75,000 employers, including small and medium-sized businesses, were already paying the E.H.T. in 2019, with many of them still paying the M.S.P. on top of it, creating a double whammy of taxation for 2019.

Job creators with a payroll of more than $500,000 per year must pay the E.H.T.

The tax cost taxpayers $1.9 billion in 2019-2020 and business leaders say it is playing a role in shutting down worksites like the Tolko Mill in Kelowna.

“The NDP campaigned on getting rid of the costly M.S.P., but they didn’t tell British Columbians that they were going to bring in the Employer Health Tax instead,” said Sims. “It was great to see the M.S.P. go, but, this just a shell game now because some B.C. workers are missing their pay raises, some are losing their jobs and many are paying more for property taxes because of the Employer Health Tax.

“We are still paying a big price, but the tax is hidden.”

To read the full annual CTF report on New Years Tax Changes click HERE.

Submitted by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

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