The New Car Dealers Association of B.C. and the Business Improvement Areas of British Columbia are calling on the province to scrap its planned expansion of the provincial sales tax to professional services, warning the move would unfairly raise costs for businesses already facing growing public safety challenges.
In a May 19 release, the organizations said applying PST to security services amounts to “taxing safety” at a time when many businesses are spending more on private security, monitoring systems and crime prevention measures in response to rising retail crime, vandalism and street disorder.
The groups said businesses across British Columbia have increasingly been forced to absorb costs linked to homelessness, addiction, mental health challenges and repeat offending in commercial areas.
“Across B.C., businesses are being forced to spend thousands of dollars on security, monitoring systems, and additional safety measures simply to protect their employees, customers, and storefronts from rising crime and disorder,” said Jeremy Heighton, President of BIABC, in a statement. “Now, government is effectively taxing businesses for trying to keep people safe.”
The associations also backed the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade’s Stop the Squeeze campaign opposing the tax changes.
Blair Qualey, President and CEO of the NCDA, said the province is placing an added burden on businesses already struggling with operational pressures and economic uncertainty.
“There is a profound contradiction when government has failed to adequately address public safety issues — leaving businesses to do more to protect their staff, customers, and properties — while simultaneously taxing the very services they rely on to do it,” said Qualey.
The organizations said the PST expansion would also apply to accounting, payroll and compliance services used by businesses to meet regulatory obligations.
BIABC and the NCDA are urging the province to work with the business community on what they called a more balanced approach to revenue generation and economic competitiveness.
