YOUR PERSPECTIVE: A new NDP tax at the worst possible time

B.C continues to experience a deepening affordability crisis, and people in the Fraser Valley and throughout the province are enduring some of the worst consequences. We have the highest gas prices in North America, the highest rents in the country, and housing prices are the highest we have ever seen. The young people in our province are struggling to afford to buy a house and instead face incredibly high rental rates.

It’s an unfortunate time for the provincial NDP to decide to lay on more taxes. On July 1, a new tax on online marketplaces came into effect. At a time when people are paying more money for daily necessities than ever before, they will now pay extra for some goods purchased online. These new rules effectively make online marketplace facilitators liable to collect and remit PST on sales made by marketplace sellers through online sales platforms.

This additional tax was buried in legislation and is completely unprecedented, as nothing like this exists anywhere else in North America. It enables fees that small businesses pay for advertising, ‘pick and pack’ services and delivery to be taxable now. For example, when online marketplaces like delivery apps take a fee from the restaurant for the food, or when businesses pay for higher placement online to be seen sooner by the customer — these actions are now eligible for taxation by the government. This means small businesses will be taxed the fee they pay to the online marketplace to sell their goods.

Because of this, prices for consumers will rise and members of our industry will become uncompetitive. These costs will be buried in the price of goods that these small retailers sell to consumers, and during a time of such rapid inflation, it is incredibly poor timing. While the consumer now pays more and business models are disrupted, the government will collect more money.