BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS 2017/18Presented to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

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BC should take advantage of its strong economic outlook and

encourage the diversification and maturation of the economy by

focusing on improving business productivity by:

1. Establishing input tax credits for businesses;

2. Developing BC’s skilled talent pool;

3. Fostering head office growth; and

4. Growing small businesses.

INPUT TAX CREDITS

The Provincial Sales Tax, in its current form,

is an outdated tax. It hinders investment

and productivity, adding approximately 10%

to input costs from when the Harmonized

Sales Tax was in place.

INPUT TAX CREDITS

Recommendation: Implement input tax credits

to encourage business capital investment and

to maintain our province’s competitiveness and

drive productivity.

SKILLED TALENT POOL

83.2% of BC CPAs identified the ability to attract

and retain skilled talent as a “moderate” or

“major” challenge to business success in the

latest CPABC Business Outlook Survey.

SKILLED TALENT POOL

Recommendation: Expand current initiatives and

work with other government partners, universities

& colleges, and industry to develop a policy that

better equips students with needed skills and

efficiently integrates graduates into the workforce.

HEAD OFFICE GROWTH

Head offices are important contributors to the

growth of local small businesses and creation

of industry clusters. Currently, only 7.5% of

head offices in Canada are located in BC.

HEAD OFFICE GROWTH

Recommendation: Continue to support HQ

Vancouver and consider implementing similar

initiatives in other BC urban centers and

industrial hubs.

SMALL BUSINESS

Small businesses make up 98% of all

BC businesses, but only generate

about a third of our GDP. It is important

to BC’s economy that the province

encourages small businesses to

pursue growth.

SMALL BUSINESS

Recommendation: Review and

implement new tax policies to modernize

the current tax structure.