The B.C. legislative assembly will get its first chance Thursday to debate finance minister Carole James’ Economic Stabilization Act - a bill that would allow the province to pass deficit budgets for the next three fiscal years.
The legislation, tabled Wednesday as Bill 18, would amend the Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act so that the prohibition of deficit budgets can be temporarily suspended. James said the province is looking to have the ability to present deficit budgets for 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
“These measures will bring financial administrative relief for people and businesses as we address the ongoing effects of the pandemic,” James said at Wednesday’s legislative sitting, adding the bill also carries a number of tax relief measures for items such as property, motor fuel, tobacco and the overall PST.
Bill 18 would also allow the provincial government to present “supplementary estimates where necessary” from 2021 to 2024 in areas where such estimates would normally be prohibited when a government-directed operating debt is forecasted. Essentially, it indicates the province’s possible use of deficit spending for the next four years as it battles the fallout from COVID-19.
“The amendments to these… acts will help ensure that the funding remains available as the province continues to recover from the effects of COVID-19,” James said.
Among the other forms of tax relief proposed in Bill 18 are the delaying of late payment penalties for commercial property tax and the requirement for municipalities to remit taxes collected from TransLink and B.C. Transit under the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Act to give “certainty of cash flow.”
Also, the province is extending the deadline for municipalities to remit school and police taxes to the province, as well as amending the Income Tax Act to make into law the $1,000 B.C. emergency benefit for workers.
Bill 18 would also extend the tax return filing and payment deadlines until Sept. 30 for the carbon tax, motor fuel tax, tobacco tax and the PST.
The bill is slated to be debated at the legislature in Thursday’s second-reading.
Read more from Business In Vancouver
