Supporting success of local businesses key to long-term economic prosperity


VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the organization’s annual budget recommendations, the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) recommends that the provincial government should implement policies that help grow the economy and generate resources for social services.

“Encouraging the success of B.C. businesses is key to building and sustaining a diversified, vibrant, and healthy economic landscape,” said Lori Mathison, president and CEO of CPABC. “Improved business productivity not only creates more opportunities for workers, but also more tax revenue for the government. This, in turn, will allow the provincial government to fund education, health, and social services that are vital to B.C. residents.”

Any negative tax changes could affect the province’s ability to attract new businesses and investment. CPABC continues to reiterate the need for a competitive tax regime in the province, and two tax policies that warrant further discussion are the employer health tax (EHT) and provincial sales tax (PST) on business expenditures. On the PST, CPABC recommends a full PST exemption or credit on business expenditures to encourage investment, which would improve our province’s business competitiveness and drive productivity that is crucial for economic growth.

“While the intention of the employer health tax is to shift health care costs from individuals to businesses, the cost burden will ultimately be placed on workers, as business could shift the added cost back to their employees in forms of reduced benefits, contract employment, and other cost-saving measures,” noted Mathison. “Reduced financial capacity to pay wages could also have an impact on the ability of many small and medium-sized employers to recruit and retain talent in an already tight market. We believe the employer health tax warrants further research and consultation to fully assess its impact and therefore the government should delay the implementation of the tax until 2020.”

The challenge in recruiting talent is another issue affecting business productivity across B.C., and this issue is worsening, as demand for labour is outstripping supply.

“For the fourth consecutive year, B.C. CPAs identified the ability to attract and retain skilled labour as the toughest challenge to business success in our annual Business Outlook Survey,” continued Mathison. “Employers are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit employees with the necessary skills to fulfil business needs. CPABC suggests that the B.C. government make co-operative programs a mandatory component of post-secondary education and work with post-secondary institutions and industry to explore innovative approaches to provide students with a broader-range of opportunities.”

And while the final investment decision on LNG Canada and the new “in-principle” United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement provide some optimism for our export sector, some uncertainty still lingers. Therefore, CPABC encourages the provincial government to continue to support B.C. exporters to find new innovative ways to diversify products and services, as well as maintain trade relations.

About CPA British Columbia
The Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) is the training, governing, and regulatory body for more than 35,000 CPA members and 5,000 CPA students and candidates. CPABC carries out its primary mission to protect the public by enforcing the highest professional and ethical standards and contributing to the advancement of public policy. CPAs are recognized internationally for bringing superior financial expertise, strategic thinking, business insight, and leadership to organizations.


            

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