B.C. carbon tax kicks in on Canada Day
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
CBC News
July 1, 2008
British Columbians will pay more at the gas pump as the provincial government’s carbon tax on all fossil fuels takes effect Tuesday.
The carbon tax, introduced in the Feb. 19 budget, taxes carbon-based fuels — including gasoline, diesel, natural gas and home heating fuel — at a rate of $10 per tonne of greenhouse gases generated. The carbon tax will rise $5 a tonne for the next four years until it hits $30 per tonne in 2012.
The Tuesday tax increase works out to an extra 2.4 cents a litre on gasoline, increasing to 7.24 cents per litre by 2012.
The government has said all carbon tax revenue — about $1.8 billion over three years — will be returned to British Columbians through reductions to income and business taxes.
To soften the impact of the carbon tax, the government gave a $100 climate action dividend to each British Columbian at the end of June.
Maureen Bader, the B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said consumers will likely end up paying more as businesses raise prices and municipalities increase property taxes.
“The last time Canadians were sold on a revenue-neutral tax, it was called the GST,” Bader said.
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