By Byron Sheardown

Dear Honourable David Eby and NDP MLAs, 

My small business has unfortunately fallen prey to your new employer health tax as my payroll fits your criteria.

What your party has failed to do, however, is fairly tax us.

I’m one of the last newspaper/magazine printers in British Columbia. I was paying 50 percent of my employees' MSP premiums as a benefit.

So, I’m still paying that at the same time I’ve started paying your new tax on my payroll for the government's “free” MSP. 

You have failed to recognize that my low-margin business cannot afford your new tax. My already low net income has now been reduced by 17 percent off its bottom line. For one tax!!! It’s ridiculous!

You’re killing my business.

I employ 53 people and have a $2-million annual payroll. Your new tax is forcing me to let people go and increase unemployment. Nice going. 

Can you please amend the rules for this tax and change it to fairly and evenly tax all businesses that have a payroll?

Dividing it up among the thousands of small and large businesses will reduce the burden on my small, low-margin business and you will create a more fair tax if we all share it. 

Please don’t let your tax kill my business.

Thank you. 

Byron Sheardown