VICTORIA: British Columbians will be paying more to heat their homes, fill their fridges and stream their favourite shows, thanks to increased taxes in the B.C. budget and all the while the debt continues to deepen.

“This government is jacking up taxes on our everyday lives, making our cost of living even more expensive, all while racking up more debt” said Kris Sims, B.C. Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “When you increase the carbon tax on something as basic as natural gas, you increase the costs of things such as home heating, groceries and running your local rec centre.”

The B.C. carbon tax is already set to jump from $40 per ton up to $45 per ton this year, Apr. 1, however the provincial government is now taking an extra step to increase it even more. By aligning the B.C. carbon tax formula with the federal carbon tax formula, the carbon tax cost on natural gas will go from 7.6 cents per cubic meter up to 8.82 cents per cubic meter. The pumped up carbon tax increase will cost taxpayers an extra $17 million, bringing the total carbon tax take by the B.C. government up to $1.9 billion in the year 2020-21.

The budget is adding sales taxes to pop.

“The B.C. NDP had previously said that it didn’t want a pop tax in this province, but we have one now and it’s going to cost us $38 million next year,” said Sims. “The government has already imposed the Employer Health Tax on job creators and now it’s layering on an additional tax that will cost you more for pop and fountain drinks even if they don’t have sugar added.”

The government is also imposing a new tax on streaming services that originate outside of Canada, such as Netflix. The government plans on taking in more than $16 million per year from British Columbians who stream movies and music.

There is a new personal income tax rate of 20.5 per cent for taxable income over $220,000. The government expects to pull in an additional $216 million because of this tax.

While the operating budget is balanced with a paper thin surplus of $227 million this year and a tissue-paper-thin surplus of $179 million next year, the total provincial debt is going up fast.

The provincial debt will jump from $70 billion today up to $87.5 billion in 2023. That’s a $17.5 billion increase in just three years.

B.C. taxpayers pay about $2.7 billion per year on interest payments on the provincial debt.

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