Taxes

As the BC election starts, where’s our collective head at?

Apr 4, 2017
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Much of BC’s pre-election debate has coalesced around the free-for-all in corporate political donations—and understandably so, given the scale of the problem that’s been revealed by various investigations. But worrying as the potential corruption of our democratic system may be, it’s not the only concern weighing on British Columbians’ minds as we draw closer to… View Article

BC Budget 2017: $600 million in tax breaks for business

Mar 17, 2017
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Does the BC business sector need a tax cut? Not so much. But Budget 2017 promises to give business over $600 million in additional annual tax breaks nonetheless. That’s more than half a billion dollars annually that won’t be invested in creating affordable high-quality child care spaces, building affordable housing (as opposed to a one-off… View Article

Tax fairness in BC? Hardly

Feb 16, 2017
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Tax cuts disproportionately benefitted the richest 1% of British Columbians, write @IglikaIvanova & @1alexhemingway: https://t.co/iZbcztdPem pic.twitter.com/BavNnT2WWp — The CCPA–BC (@CCPA_BC) February 16, 2017 As we wait to hear more about the tax cuts coming in BC Budget 2017, it is important to remember what has happened to our provincial tax system over the past 16… View Article

The problem with tax cuts: The promise doesn’t match the reality

Feb 15, 2017
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The big news item in yesterday’s BC throne speech was that the Premier’s plan to relieve affordability pressures for families will include tax cuts of some sort. The problem with this plan: the inevitable flip side of tax cuts is lost public revenues. And while most governments—including Clark’s—promise that tax cuts won’t affect public services, the reality… View Article

BC’s natural gas giveaway: Production soars, revenues plummet

Feb 9, 2017
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Not long ago, BC received huge annual royalty revenues from its growing natural gas sector. The revenues were often billed as paying for essential public services like health care and education, and were appealing politically as they meant governments did not have to raise taxes to do so. The provincial government claimed that new production… View Article

Taking stock of BC’s new (affordable?) housing policies

Jan 11, 2017
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In 2016, the BC government set out several new actions intended to address housing affordability. But as 2017 begins, Metro Vancouver continues to have a massive problem – in both home ownership affordability and rental markets. This threatens to undermine the region’s long-term prosperity by driving out young people and making it harder to attract… View Article

BC Tax Commission focuses on business and not the rest of us

Nov 23, 2016
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This fall we presented recommendations to the provincial government’s “Commission on Tax Competitiveness”, which released its final report today. But the Commission suffered from a basic flaw: an exclusive focus on business taxes. What about how BC’s overall tax system affects the large majority of British Columbians? The Commission’s terms of reference precluded consideration of… View Article

The case for a progressive property tax

Nov 2, 2016
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In 1993, then-Finance Minister Glen Clark tabled a controversial BC Budget, featuring a wide range of tax changes. A one-point increase in the provincial sales tax was the largest measure, tempered by the introduction of a refundable sales tax credit. Most of the budget measures increased taxes on the wealthy and corporations. Up went the… View Article