The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is urging the provincial government to scrap the carbon tax, which it says is hurting B.C. businesses.
“It’s time for the carbon tax to go,” said CTF’s B.C. director Jordan Bateman. “It hasn’t accomplished its environmental goals and is hurting B.C.’s competitiveness both in North America and internationally. Taxpayers – both individual and business – need relief.”
Earlier this year, the CTF asked British Columbians to comment on the carbon tax, which was implemented as part of the government’s climate action policies. The tax was implemented in 2008 and is revenue neutral.
The CTF compiled hundreds of comments from British Columbians into a 25-page report.
“While the carbon tax has indeed been revenue neutral for government, it has been anything but for average British Columbians,” the CTF report states.
Urbanites have generally benefitted from a tax shift, the CTF concludes, but rural British Columbians, who have fewer transit options, have been hurt by it.
“It’s ridiculous for a taxpayer to be told it’s revenue neutral when they are forced to pay the ever-increasing carbon tax but have no ability to access the corresponding tax breaks like venture capital credits, industrial property credits, research and experimental development grants or digital media credits,” said Bateman.
“Many taxpayers feel left behind by having to pay both a carbon tax and increased prices for any good or service moved by vehicle in B.C.”
B.C. was the first jurisdiction in North America to implement a carbon tax, earning it the praise of noted energy economist Mark Jaccard, among others.
In June, Sustainable Prosperity published a report that concluded the tax has been effective in getting British Columbians to reduce their fuel consumption.
Fuel consumption dropped 15% since the tax was introduced in 2008, the report concluded, while the rest of Canada’s per capita fuel sales increased by 1.3%.
The carbon tax – $0.07 per litre on gas – is revenue neutral, so revenue generated from it is offset with tax credits.
Personal income tax offsets amount to $228 million, the CTF, said – something the organization wants to see kept, even if the carbon tax is scrapped.
