Businesses in British Columbia pay some of the highest taxes among Canadian provinces, but individuals in B.C. pay relatively low taxes, according to a Conference Board of Canada analysis.
Almost all of the blame for high business taxes falls on B.C.'s provincial sales tax (PST), which the province reverted to in 2013 following public backlash against the harmonized sales tax (HST). B.C.'s corporate taxes, at 10%, are relatively low.
In 2011, when the HST was implemented, B.C. “had one of the lowest sales tax burdens on businesses as a share of gross output in the business sector,” according to the Conference Board.
A value-added harmonized sales tax is considered to be beneficial for business because it reduces the tax paid on business “inputs” such as materials and equipment. But some B.C. industries, like restaurants, lobbied hard against the HST because it meant customers would pay tax on items that had previously been exempt.
B.C. now has the third-highest taxation for businesses, behind Quebec and Ontario. But it has the third-lowest personal taxation, behind Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Quebec has the highest taxation of both individuals and business, while Saskatchewan has the lowest. The report did not include an assessment of the goods and services governments pay for through taxation.
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