BC Provincial Tax Reform Could Boost Workers’ Annual Income by up to $1,700: Report

Reforms to British Columbia’s provincial sales tax could increase workers’ annual earnings by as much as $1,700, a newly released study says. If B.C. replaced its provincial sales tax (PST) with a tax that combines both provincial and federal taxes into a  harmonized sales tax (HST), it would encourage investment in the province and increase workers’ average hourly earnings anywhere from $700 up to $1,700, says the Fraser Institute report. “British Columbia’s Provincial Sales Tax harms business competitiveness and investment by taxing some businesses inputs, especially machinery and equipment, distorting consumer choices by taxing most goods but relatively few consumer services, and imposing high compliance burdens on firms because of its complexity,” wrote the report’s author and Fraser Institute senior fellow Bev Dahlby....