B.C. agrees to repay HST transition funding over five years, says finance minister
The B.C. government has agreed to repay the $1.6 billion in federal transition funding it received for switching to the harmonized sales tax over five years.
B.C. finance minister Kevin Falcon today (January 11) announced the province and federal government have reached an agreement on repayment of the funding.
Under the terms of the agreement, the federal government will waive interest charges during the repayment period, according to a statement from the province.
“The extended repayment schedule will save the province debt interest costs that would otherwise have been incurred had the province had to pay back the full amount right away-money that can instead go toward protecting core B.C. services,” the statement reads.
“The full cost of the $1.6-billion repayment will still be booked in the (provincial) government's 2011-12 fiscal year, but the province will instead be able to flow the cash over the coming five years.”
Comments
12 Comments
Peter Ritchie
Jan 11, 2012 at 10:44am
Thanks to all the paranoid, anti-government, anti-tax protestors that managed to take down the most beneficial tax reform in recent history we still have to pay back all that money, we just get more time to do it. Why not charge the bill to people that voted out the tax, lets wake them up to the economic reality they just thrust us into? Why do I have to subsidize their hatred of BC?
Moebius Stripper
Jan 11, 2012 at 10:44am
So BC effectively got a five-year, $1.6B, interest-free loan? Sweet! Let's harmonize and then deharmonize again five years from now!
SpoonierBunion
Jan 11, 2012 at 11:13am
I agree 5yr interest free loan FTW ! . . Suck it HST supporters, we should do this again 5 years from now.
LostMyGlasses
Jan 11, 2012 at 11:57am
Peter Ritchie said "Why not charge the bill to people that voted out the tax"
Or lets charge the money owed back to Ottawa directly to the BC Liberal membership list, the people really responsible for this mess?
HST Idiots
Jan 11, 2012 at 12:25pm
For those that claim the HST is so great...
* HST is a SHIFT of Taxes onto Individuals to benefit Business
* HST would raise LESS Revenues for the Province -
* the promised 10% rate if HST were kept vs. 12% PST which will help PAY for Education + Health Care at least...
* HST lets Business in particular BIG Business Claim Input Credits to in effect
(1) NOT PAY ANY HST,
(2) GET SUBSIDIZED via CORPORATE WELFARE from HST CREDITS to run their Business!
* The repayment is money GIVEN to US so just give it back,
How to Pay for BC Govt Service + Eliminate the Deficits...
* Cut ALL Corporate Welfare, No Rebates or Subsidies...
* Increase Resource Fees on ALL Natural Resources in BC like Norway, UK North Sea Oil + Gas, Australia & NewFoundLand!!! Danny Williams made NFDL a HAVE Province!!!
* Take over the Casino Gaming in BC Do Not Give away 50% of the Revenues to Private Foreign Corporations that's $1 Billion EXTRA a Year right there!!!
* Stream Line Health Care make it more efficient eliminate the wasteful Paper Work + Bureaucracy
* DON"T SPEND $1 Billion on Meters :)
* Do NOT Build Massive Hydro Projects to SUBSIDIZE
* CORPORATE MINING + DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS WITH CHEAP EXTRA POWER!!!
* AKA CORPORATE WELFARE!
* Instead Fund R&D + Roll Out Green Renewable Energy on Solar, Wind, Geo-Thermal + Ocean Tide Energy.
* Make BC Generate Green Technology Jobs.
Good Riddance to Corporate Welfare HST!
Arthur Vandelay
Jan 11, 2012 at 12:47pm
@HST Idiots - You have just proclaimed yourself smarter and wiser than virtually all of the people and governments in the OECD. I'd seriously doubt if you were the smartest being in the room you are currently occupying.
DavidH
Jan 11, 2012 at 2:01pm
As stated in the article, this was "transition funding".
Well, we "transitioned" ... and incurred the cost of doing so.
Why are we paying it back - having done exactly what we said we would do?
It's a bit like paying a contractor to build your house. He builds it. Then you decide you don't like the house, so you tear it down. Should the contractor pay you back? I. Don't. Think. So.
Mike Hansen
Jan 11, 2012 at 2:26pm
Arthur Vandelay. You don't have to be in a room to advertise your ignorance. Open your eyes and ears. We won !!!!!!!! Give your pin-head a good shake. Rattle that little pea-brain of yours. Remember that these public servants that concocted this HST program are mostly lawyers! These treacherous bastards tried to con The Citizens with a "Yes means No" and a "No means Yes" HST referendum. Along with you and other 'dumb-fucks' they thought that We were asleep at the wheel. Some sleepy heads like yourself were dozing off and fell for this 'lawyer con' but the intelligent ones saved B.C. from another 'treacherous lawyer con-job'. These bastards were so sure of themselves they went ahead with Ottawa and started something they now have to dismantle. We The Citizens beat these treacherous bastards at their own game. We have the power to move forward into a "democracy", exposing their corruption along the way.
Most upstanding Citizens know the difference between "Yes and No". "Yes means Yes" and "No means No".
How come lawyers don't know the difference? How can We trust someone that is trying to con us by thinking We're stupid?
The more interaction I've had with lawyers I've learned that these ones can't be trusted in Our lives.
What the difference between a lawyer and a catfish? One's a scum sucking bottom dweller and the other's a fish!
What's the difference between a rooster and a lawyer? The rooster clucks defiance! (the lawyer fucks the clients)!
cosmicsync
Jan 11, 2012 at 2:44pm
You are right on the mark, DavidH. Before sending any money to Ottawa, BC's finance minister should have demanded an account of how much additional revenue was received by the federal government as a result of the HST. That amount, as well as the total cost of implementing the HST, and returning to the PST/GST, should be deducted from any money sent to Ottawa.
If the BC Liberals were really looking out for the interests of the citizens of this province, they would have taken a much tougher line, instead of shrugging their shoulders and saying "of course we have to return the money."
But as they have shown us numerous times in the past, they are all too willing to waste our tax dollars in service of furthering their political agenda.
glen p robbins
Jan 11, 2012 at 10:24pm
"Honesty is most valuable currency a person can have" (Kevin Berry) - Campbell and the BC Liberals lied. The people voted and it did not matter. The lie is still in play. The HST must go on principle - and British Columbians' should decimate the Harper government in this province for complicity in it - reform ----------- oh sure.