Retail BC today communicated to the BC government its strong opposition to the decision to replace the parking stall tax with a new tax on GVRD commercial properties. Under Bill 36: the GVTA Amendment Act, the BC government is enabling a new property tax specific to commercial and industrial property classes, exempting residential property owners.

In a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell, Retail BC called on the BC government to stop Bill 36 in its tracks, or barring that, to amend the Bill to spread the new property tax burden to all property classes.

“Retailers are more opposed to this new commercial property tax than they were to the original parking stall tax,” said Mark Startup, president and CEO of Retail BC. “Under Bill 36, Vancouver commercial property owners will have to pay $3.4 million more in taxes than they would have paid under the parking stall tax.”

Startup noted that commercial property owners in Vancouver currently pay six times the property taxes as their residential counterparts.

“It’s safe to say that BC businesses are paying more than their fair share and should not be asked to shoulder any more of the property tax load,” said Startup. “If anything, the BC government should show the same leadership in liberating commercial property owners from excessive taxes as they did for BC’s port operators.”

Retail BC is the voice of over 3,000 retail companies within British Columbia. BC’s retail industry generates over $50 billion in sales and employs over 250,000 British Columbians.