val litwin: let's build a smarter employers health tax - smart

Small businesses that used to pay MSP premiums for their employees are now paying new employer health taxes (EHT).
With the registration deadline approaching in May 15, our members are most concerned about the "double bottom" and now it's time to talk about smart tax policies that support B. C.
It's the economic pillar"
"In 2020, provincial legislation was introduced to cancel the premium of the medical service plan.
This progressive tax is B. C.
The Chamber of Commerce agreed to phase out.
But the resulting EHT requires a lot of work.
Businesses from downtown Vancouver to Dawson Creek tell us that this new tax is curbing growth and weakening their competitive power.
While an MSP task force has been set up to advise on how to replace MSP premium income, the government has not implemented all the suggestions in the final report of the group.
The terms of reference clearly stated that "commercial competitive power" must be taken into account, and therefore, the final report recommended a number of measures to mitigate the negative effects.
However, the government came back with EHT, which put too much burden on too many small businesses in B. C.
Treasury Secretary Carol James and Prime Minister John Hogan have proposed an employer health tax that replaces the current health care program.
Canadian pressure employers with more than $500,000 in chad hipolito/employment will be required to pay EHT-
This threshold is too low, which means that too many small businesses will bear the tax burden.
The $500,000 threshold reflects the salary of a company with about 10 employees.
This means that there are about 40,000 small businesses in B. C. (
Employees between 11 and 49 persons)paying the EHT.
We believe that more small businesses should have better opportunities for development.
Also think about it, a lot of people start
Up company is pre-revenue —but not pre-payroll.
For example, new companies in the tech industry may have a large number of employees because they employ highly skilled workers.
Before they make a profit.
This new tax may slow down their efforts to scale up or sink before they even give up. With B. C.
These tax measures, which try to position themselves as innovative markets that encourage entrepreneurs to invest, could lead to growth --
The mentality of entrepreneurs going to other places
"Tax competition" did fail. The B. C.
The Chamber of Commerce advocates raising the EHT threshold to $1.
5 million, this will give more small businesses the opportunity to scale up and grow the economic cake for everyone.
Such a suspension would also reduce the burden on small companies and start-ups.
Ups is already struggling with carbon emissions.
Increased taxes, increased federal and municipal taxes, and continued increases in the minimum wageC.
Chamber of Commerce support.
In order to effectively replace revenue from MSP, we need to implement the progressive tax model through the combination of personal and business tax.
This means for individuals that the more you earn, the more you payto a point.
Medical insurance premiums will then be supplemented by employer contributions through progressive payroll taxes (
This model has been working well since Ontario got rid of medical insurance premiums in 2003).
We have been supporting the cancellation of MSP premiums through our policy since 2016.
However, the designed employer health tax will bankrupt small businesses that account for 98 of all businesses in B. C.
Is the backbone of the province's economy.
Val Litwin is the CEO of B. C.
Chamber of Commerce.
The letter to the editor should be sent to the province's provletters. com.
The edit page editor is Gordon Clark, and you can contact atgclark @ postmedia. com.
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