CGA-BC Makes Annual Budget Recommendations to Province
November 1, 2010
VANCOUVER, B.C. — The Certified General Accountants Association of British Columbia (CGA-BC) has recently released its annual recommendations to the provincial government’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services Budget Consultation.
The CGA-BC submission offers recommendations in six areas to help turn the economy around on what it calls a challenging road to recovery. Those areas consist of:
- Harmonized Sales Tax
- B.C. tax rates
- Overall tax cost to businesses in B.C.
- Property tax burden on business
- Debt management and expenditure control
- Continued commitment to free trade in Canada.
On the Harmonized Sales Tax, the Association submits that the new tax and the blending of the Social Services Tax and the GST will be positive for the province, especially if the province provides appropriate exemptions and rebates. Among its five reasons for supporting the HST are the greater fairness the new system delivers over the old retail sales tax, and the increased compliance and reduced costs compliance means for large and small businesses.
And in an effort to achieve greater transparency, the Association asks the government to consider publishing a report at the end of two years that:
- discloses HST revenue collected, and
- compares such revenue to the anticipated revenue under the former Social Services Tax.
It also recommends “cautious spending and aggressive debt management” so that the government will be in a position where the B.C. portion of the HST rate can be reduced after the two years.
See the complete submission to the Committee.