Rob Shaw, Vancouver Sun
VICTORIA – Major tax cuts promised by Premier Christy Clark largely
failed to materialize in Tuesday’s provincial budget, replaced instead
by partial future relief from medical premiums and spending increases
for health care, child welfare and education.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong resisted cutting the provincial sales
tax, or personal income tax, as he attempted to fulfill premier’s
promise to return surplus funds back to taxpayers’ wallets.
The 2017/18 budget instead outlined a 50 per cent cut in Medical
Services Plan (MSP) premiums for an estimated 2 million households with
less than $120,000 income — which could save $450 a year for a single
adult or $900 per year for a family.
For those who earn more – roughly 800,000 residents – MSP rates remain unchanged.
The changes won’t kick in until Jan. 1, 2018.
“We wanted to address the burden facing British Columbia families,
and have done so by addressing an instrument that has attracted a lot of
negative comment,” de Jong said of MSP changes, which will cost $900
million. (read more)
**************************************************************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment