Vancouver — The tax changes proposed in British Columbia by the NDP and Green Party will increase the yearly tax burden for the average B.C. family by $594, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“An NDP-Green government in B.C. would result in a marked shift in tax policy in the province, including an increase in personal income taxes, carbon taxes and business taxes,” said Niels Veldhuis, president of the Fraser Institute and co-author of The Impact of Proposed NDP-Green Tax Changes on British Columbian Families.
The study finds that the tax increases would add $1.4 billion to the tax burden of British Columbians, assuming that the carbon tax increase is fully implemented in 2017.
Using the Fraser Institute’s Canadian Tax Simulator, which includes a statistically representative database of British Columbians, the average B.C. family’s tax bill would increase by $594 under the proposed NDP-Green tax changes, led mainly by a $482 increase in fuel and carbon taxes.
And the agreement’s proposed tax hikes will increase the tax burden across the income spectrum, from $144 for families that earn between $20,000 and $50,000, to $389 for families that earn between $50,000 to $100,000, to more than $1,000 for families that earn between $150,000 and $250,000.
Even though the NDP-Green agreement proposes a Climate Action Rebate that will likely protect those in the lower income group from some or all of the tax increases, details of the rebate have not been specified. (British Columbia currently provides a Low Income Climate Action Tax Credit, but the average B.C. family income is too high to be eligible.)
“British Columbians may soon face substantially higher taxes, given the changes proposed by the NDP and the Green Party. And their un-costed spending proposals mean future tax increases beyond those already announced are also likely,” Veldhuis said.
