Executive summary

On 20 February 2018, British Columbia Finance Minister Carole James tabled the province's fiscal 2018–19 budget. The budget contains several tax measures affecting individuals and corporations.

The Minister anticipates a surplus of CA$¹219 million for 2018-19, and projects surpluses for each of the next two years.

Following is a brief summary of the key tax measures.

Detailed discussion

Business tax measures

Corporate tax rates

No changes are proposed to the corporate tax rates or the $500,000 small-business limit.

British Columbia's 2018 and 2019 corporate tax rates are summarized in Table A.

Table A: Corporate tax rates

* British Columbia reduced its small-business rate from 2.5% to 2.0% effective 1 April 2017.

** On 24 October 2017, the Federal Government tabled a notice of ways and means motion to implement reductions in the small-business corporate income tax rate, which were announced on 16 October 2017. The federal small-business rate is reduced from 10.5% to 10.0% effective 1 January 2018 and will be further reduced to 9.0% effective 1 January 2019.

*** British Columbia increased its general corporate tax rate from 11.0% to 12.0% effective 1 January 2018.

Other business tax measures

The Minister proposed the introduction of new legislation to implement an employer health tax.

Employer health tax

• In 2018, the Government will introduce legislation to implement an employer health tax on employers' payrolls starting in the 2019 calendar year. The employer health tax will not apply to employers with payroll under $500,000. Employers with payroll over $1.5 million will pay the maximum rate of 1.95% on their total payroll. For employers with payroll between $500,000 and $1.5 million, the tax rate will phase in gradually until it reaches 1.95% at $1.5 million in total payroll.

In addition, this budget proposes changes to the following tax credits:

• The mining flow-through share tax credit is extended for one year to the end of 2018.
• The farmer's food donation tax credit is extended for one year to the end of 2019.
• The interactive digital media tax credit is extended for five years to 31 August 2023.
• The book publishing tax credit is extended for three years to 31 March 2021.
• The Film Incentive BC tax credit is expanded to include scriptwriting expenditures on British Columbia labor incurred by a corporation prior to the completion of the final script stage of the production effective for expenditures incurred on or after 21 February 2018.

Personal tax

Personal income tax rates

The budget does not include any changes to personal income tax rates.

The 2018 British Columbia personal tax rates are summarized in Table B.

Table B: 2018 British Columbia personal tax rates

For taxable income in excess of $144,489, the 2018 combined federal-British Columbia personal income tax rates are outlined in Table C.

Table C: Combined 2018 federal and British Columbia personal tax rates

* The rate on capital gains is one-half the ordinary income tax rate.

Medical Service Plan premiums

• Effective 1 January 2020, Medical Services Plan premiums will be eliminated. Single individuals will see annual savings of up to $900 and families will see annual savings of up to $1,800 once the Medical Services Plan premiums are eliminated.

Provincial sales tax

• The exemption for avalanche airbag backpacks is being expanded to include all avalanche airbag backpacks effective 1 April 2018.
• Effective on a date to be specified by regulation, the Provincial Sales Tax Act and regulations will be amended to enable online accommodation platforms to register as collectors, and to collect and remit provincial sales tax and the municipal and regional district tax on accommodation. By registering as a collector, the online platform will relieve its hosts from the obligation to register.
• Effective on a date to be specified by regulation, revenue from the municipal and regional district tax collected by municipalities, regional districts and eligible entities, such as tourism-focused nonprofits, can be used to fund affordable housing initiatives. Currently, funds can only be used for tourism marketing, programs and projects.
• Effective retroactive to 1 April 2013, the Provincial Sales Tax Act will be amended to clarify that provincial sales tax applies to software provided under optional as-needed maintenance agreements.
• Effective 1 April 2018, the luxury surcharge on passenger vehicles is increased. The rate on passenger vehicles with a purchase price from $125,000 to $149,999 is increased to 15% from 10%, and the rate on passenger vehicles with a purchase price of $150,000 and above is increased to 20% from 10%. The general rate on private sales is also increased to 15% from 12% on passenger vehicles with a purchase price from $125,000 to $149,999, and to 20% from 12% on passenger vehicles with a purchase price of $150,000 and above. The rates apply to sales of both new and used passenger vehicles.
• Effective on Royal Assent, services will be permitted to be included in Tax Payment Agreements between the Province and interjurisdictional railways. This will allow for simplified remittance of tax on services. Previously, only goods and software were included in Tax Payment Agreements.
• Effective retroactive to 1 April 2013, retailers operating on cruise ships in BC waters are not required to collect provincial sales tax on sales made during the course of scheduled sailings.

Property tax

Property Transfer Tax Act

• Effective 21 February 2018, a further tax rate of 2% is applied to the fair market value of the residential component of a taxable transaction that exceeds a threshold of $3 million. The rate of tax on the part of the residential component above the threshold is a total of 5%, made up of the existing 3% on the fair market value of taxable transactions above $2 million and the new 2% rate on the portion of the fair market value of the residential component above $3 million.
• Effective 21 February 2018, the additional property transfer tax payable by foreign entities and taxable trustees on taxable residential property transfers is increased to 20% from 15%. In addition, the tax is expanded to the Capital Regional District, the Regional District of the Central Okanagan, the Fraser Valley Regional District and the Regional District of Nanaimo. For these newly added areas, there are transitional rules that may exempt eligible property transactions entered into before 21 February 2018. There are no transitional rules for transactions in Metro Vancouver.
• Effective for transactions that occur on or after 21 February 2018, transfers of a bankrupt's principal residence from a trustee in bankruptcy to the bankrupt or the bankrupt's spouse or former spouse are exempt from tax.

New speculation tax

• The Government will introduce legislation in 2018 to impose a speculation tax on residential property in British Columbia. The new annual property tax will target foreign and domestic home owners who do not pay income tax in British Columbia, including those who leave their homes vacant. So called "satellite families" who have high worldwide income but pay little income tax in British Columbia will also be captured by the tax. The tax will be effective for the 2018 and future tax years.
• Upfront exemptions will be available for most principal residences, qualifying long-term rental properties and certain special cases.
• A non-refundable income tax credit will also be introduced to offset the new tax. This will provide relief for persons who do not qualify for an upfront exemption, but who pay income taxes in British Columbia. The income tax credit can be carried forward to future years.
• The new tax will initially apply to the Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Capital and Nanaimo Regional Districts and the municipalities of Kelowna and West Kelowna. In 2018, the tax rate will be $5 per $1,000 of assessed value. In 2019, the tax rate will rise to $20 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Other tax measures

Motor fuel tax and carbon tax

• The refund rates for International Fuel Tax Agreement licensees are increased to reflect annual increases in the carbon tax each 1 April from 2018 through to 2021. This will ensure International Fuel Tax Agreement licensees only pay carbon tax on fuel they use in BC.
• Effective 1 April 2018, marine diesel fuel used in interjurisdictional cruise ships and ships prohibited from coasting trade under the Coasting Trade Act is exempt from motor fuel tax. This exemption parallels the existing exemption from carbon tax for these ships.
• Effective 1 April 2018, the motor fuel tax rates on clear gasoline and clear diesel in the Capital Regional District are increased to 5.5 cents per litre from 3.5 cents.
• Effective retroactive to 18 February 2014, refiner collectors that acquire fuel for retail sale from other refiner collectors are exempt from the requirement to pay security on that fuel, and a refund is provided for security paid by refiner collectors on fuel purchased in BC and sold to another refiner collector.

Tobacco Tax Act

• Effective 1 April 2018, the tax rate on cigarettes is increased to 27.5 cents per cigarette from 24.7 cents (to $55 from $49.50 per carton of 200 cigarettes). The tax rate on loose tobacco (tobacco in a form other than cigarettes or cigars) is increased to 37.5 cents from 24.7 cents per gram.

Other technical amendments

Administration and information sharing enhanced

Budget 2018 introduces several changes to enhance tax administration and information sharing:

• Effective on Royal Assent, the Property Transfer Tax Act is amended to:
  • Increase the limitation period for property transfer tax assessments to six years to match the limitation period for the additional property transfer tax
  • Enable additional information to be collected on property transfer tax forms, including tax identification numbers for transferees through bare trusts
  • Introduce administrative penalties for non-compliance
  • ?Extend the general anti-avoidance rule to the entire Act
  • Enable tax administrators to access additional information on property transactions, including information in a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database.
• Effective on a date to be specified by regulation, the Carbon Tax Act, Motor Fuel Tax Act and Provincial Sales Tax Act are amended to allow for a fee to be charged to taxpayers to recover costs associated with out-of-province audits.
• Effective for transactions entered into on or after 21 February 2018, or a series of transactions that is completed on or after 21 February 2018, the Income Tax Act is amended to introduce a reportable transaction rule. The rule parallels the federal reportable transaction rule for income tax, and requires taxpayers and their advisors to proactively disclose certain avoidance transactions to the Canada Revenue Agency.
• Effective 21 February 2018, the Income Tax Act's general anti-avoidance rule is changed to parallel the federal general anti-avoidance rule and to ensure that any misuse or abuse of a provision in another Act that the Income Tax Act relies on will be subject to the rule.
• Effective on Royal Assent, the Income Tax Act and Land Tax Deferment Act are amended to allow for information sharing between the two Acts.
• Effective on Royal Assent, the Income Tax Act and the Logging Tax Act are amended to no longer require the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council to pre-approve information sharing agreements entered into under these Acts.
• British Columbia is currently implementing the Petroleum Information Network (Petrinex) system, which is intended to improve the collection and accuracy of oil and natural gas royalty information. The introduction of this new data collection system requires amendments to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act to ensure the privacy of collected information and to allow for proper sharing of information with relevant provincial government organizations. The amendments to the Act, which take effect on Royal Assent, also include changes regarding non-compliance and reporting errors by industry participants, which provides the Ministry of Finance with authority to penalize the non-payment of royalties, ensuring that all royalties are assessed in a timely manner.

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ENDNOTE

¹ Currency references in this Alert are to CA$.

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CONTACTS

For additional information with respect to this Alert, please contact the following:

Ernst & Young LLP (Canada), Vancouver

• Greg Noble
  greg.noble@ca.ey.com
• Lokesh Chaudhry
  lokesh.chaudhry@ca.ey.com
• Dalbir Rai
  dalbir.s.rai@ca.ey.com
• Katherine Xilinas
  katherine.xilinas@ca.ey.com

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ATTACHMENT

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