24 Mar COVID-19: BC Measures for Business and Individuals
Posted at 07:46h
in Latest News
On March 23, 2020, the Government of British Columbia announced a number of measures to assist business and individuals.
Here is what you need to know.
New Measures for Business
- Deferring the payment of a number of taxes for business until September 30, 2020, including:
- Employer Health Tax (originally due March 31st)
- PST remittances
- Carbon taxes
- School tax rate reduced by 50% for business and commercial properties. This could have an average savings of $4,000 per property. This will be passed through to tenants that have triple net leases.
- Non-profit, service delivery agencies, and child care providers will continue to receive provincial funding regardless of whether programs are operating and sites are open. Child care businesses that are staying open are to receive enhanced funding to cover business expenses.
New Measures for Individuals
- Emergency benefit for workers
- Open too anyone who receives the federal EI payments, new Emergency Care Benefits, or new Emergency Support Benefits.
- Tax-free $1,000 one-time payment.
- Note: Application process not yet announced.
- Expanding the existing BC Climate Action Tax Credit
- Eligible families will receive up to $218 in enhanced payments in July 2020.
- Supporting people unable to pay monthly bills
- ICBC – People on a monthly payment plan can defer payment for up to 90 days
- BC Hydro – People and businesses can defer bill payments with no penalty, or apply for grants up to $600 if facing disconnection
- Freeze student loan payments starting March 30, 2020 for 6 months. (Note: Federal student loan payments have already been frozen).
More Information
Please visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020PREM0013-000545#
If you have any questions about the information outlined above, please reach out to our team at we_are@clearlinecpa.ca.
We will continue to keep you updated as things unfold.
Team Clearline
