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Moving Forward

FAQs Questions about returning to PST

Legislation Information on Legislation introduced on May 14, 2012

Independent Panel

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What Has More Tax? Items with More Tax Under the HST

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Rebates and Exemptions Actions to Offset the Impact of the HST

Buying a Home? Housing Transitional Rules

Managing Your Household

Your Budget The HST and Your Daily Expenses

Running Your Home HST and Ongoing Expenses

Lower Income British Columbians Information on the B.C. HST Credit

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FAQs

B.C. HST Credit

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B.C. HST Credit

What else is being done to mitigate the impact of the HST on low income families?

The Talking Taxes public engagement highlighted concerns about the impact of the HST on British Columbians. To assist low income families, the government will leave the current HST credit amounts unchanged at $230 per family member even after the HST rate drops to 10 per cent in 2014. The government has also committed to providing one-time transitional payments to lower income seniors and families with children.

In addition, personal income tax exemptions were increased from $9,373 to $11,000, which means an additional $80 in annual income tax savings for individuals and $160 savings for couples.

What is the bottom-line impact of the HST on low income families?

Low income families and individuals will be better off under a 5% HST than they were under the 7% PST. The $230 per person HST credit more than compensates the lowest income earners for the HST they pay. In addition, reducing the provincial HST rate from 7% to 5% will ensure that individuals and families earning up to $40,000 have, on average, at least an extra $155 in their pockets each year.

More information

How much is the B.C. HST credit?

The annual amount of the credit is $230 per family member for individuals with incomes up to $20,000 and families with incomes up to $25,000. The credit is phased out by 4 per cent of income above the thresholds.
Information about eligibility for the B.C. HST credit.

How often do people receive HST credit payments?

The B.C. HST credit is paid out quarterly in January, April, July and October of each year.

How many people receive the credit?

About 1.1 million British Columbians receive the credit.

What is B.C. doing for people who don’t receive the HST credit?

B.C. is providing income tax relief for British Columbians by increasing the basic personal amount tax credit to $11,000. This means up to $80 back in the pockets of individuals and up to $160 for those claiming spousal credits.

In addition, B.C. provides provincial point-of-sale rebates, provincial rebates for new housing and new rental housing, and the provincial residential energy credit.

Additional information on the B.C. HST credit

Information about what the HST means to you and your family is available.

Detailed information about B.C. HST Credit is available here.

For more information on the B.C. HST Credit, please contact the province at 1-877-387-3332 or email CTBTaxQuestions@gov.bc.ca.

B.C. HST Credit

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