The Vancouver Board of Trade (VBOT) has given the federal budget a "B+."
Lori Mathison, chair of the VBOT government budget and finance committee, said the budget has some "big-picture positives" for businesses.
"The focus towards achieving a balanced budget by 2015 is great, and the board is also encouraged by the emphasis towards skills training and infrastructure spending – which is obviously positive for the overall economy," she said.
Mathison said the VBOT is pleased to see no tax rate increases, but she cautioned that the board is concerned about dividend tax credit amendments, which she said will hit small business.
"It will principally affect small businesses that are structured as a corporation that earn less than $500,000 in income," she said.
Mathison added that the budget includes some bad news for B.C.'s mining industry: a less-favourable tax treatment of pre-production mine development expenses.
"It's going to impact mines that are at the pre-production stage – after exploration and before production, but in that mine development stage," she said.
The VBOT budget report card assessed various parameters of the budget, including:
- spending control, which achieved an A- for program spending restraint;
- tax competitiveness, which received a B-, dampened by dividend tax credit amendments and the mining incentive changes;
- debt management, it gave an A for targeting a balanced budget by 2015-16; and
- long-term vision, which achieved a B+, getting points for budget balance, research investment, skills training and infrastructure – but lost some for lack of focus on energy and health care.
