As the old saying goes, the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. Since taxes and fees are inevitable, BCTA’s position is that the amounts should be fair and their administration and collection should be simple. BCTA also focuses on ensuring that government spends the industry’s tax dollars wisely. With these things in mind, BCTA has tackled a wide variety of tax policy to benefit the trucking industry.
Achievements
2011
Supported the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia's (ICBC’s) elimination of the $250 insurance certificate fee for commercial vehicles operating into the US (implemented in December 2011), because the fee imposed an additional administrative burden, inconvenience and costs for Canadian carriers not borne by US-domiciled carriers operating in Canada. In addition, in eliminating the $250 fee, ICBC is passing on to carriers savings realized from cancelling the agreement with the US-licensed insurer (for background, see the related item under 2010, below).
As a member of the Smart Tax Alliance, campaigned to retain the harmonized sales tax (HST) in BC prior to the final deadline for the HST Referendum on August 5, 2011, including via editorials, blogging and outreach to engage member support. Unfortunately, the majority of British Columbians who voted (54.73 percent) chose to return to the split PST/GST system.
With other provincial associations and the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), backed a change to the International Registration Plan (IRP) to save the trucking industry about $81 million per year by allowing motor carriers to pay registration fees based on actual mileage and automatically register each truck involved in IRP with each IRP jurisdiction. Although this ballot did not proceed in 2011, BCTA continues to support a future vote (some jurisdictions, primarily in the US, did not support the change because of financial considerations).
2010
Convinced the BC Utilities Commission to require ICBC to cap increases for fleet operators facing “rate shock” as a result of ICBC’s proposal to standardize premiums for basic trailer insurance. The final decision resulted in limits to annual premium increases of no more than 20% or $300 per year, whichever is higher.
Influenced the elimination of ICBC’s requirement for vehicle appraisals for lease buyouts, saving carriers time and paperwork when registering vehicles.
- After 10 years, achieved a US ruling that recognizes Canadian-issued commercial vehicle insurance by provincial Crown corporations, potentially saving carriers from ongoing annual US filing fees (ICBC has not yet calculated savings).
Recommended that the Province charge the coloured fuel tax rate for all trucks transporting freight while off-highway and not just those carrying logs and lumber. The coloured tax fuel rate is 8.11 cents/litre, rising to 9.39 cents/litre following a 1.28 cent/litre increase in the carbon tax as of July 1, 2011. BC has a policy to reduce the burning of slash and wood residue (i.e., from logging) by encouraging the production of mulch and wood pellets instead. Trucks carrying these by-products off-highway are charged the tax rate for clear fuels (i.e., 29.11 cents/litre in the Lower Mainland, 23.61 cents/litre in the Capital Regional District or 20.11 cents/litre elsewhere in the province, rising to 30.31, 24.89 and 21.39 cents/litre, respectively, as of July 1, 2011), whereas trucks carrying logs and lumber off-highway are charged the much lower coloured fuel tax rate.
2009
Convinced ICBC to implement pro-rated licensing fee refunds in November 2009. With the switch from monthly to daily pro-rated licensing, licensees can receive fairer and fuller refunds.
- Influenced the inclusion of a new PST exemption on auxiliary power units and in-cab heaters in t
he provincial budget. BCTA had asked for this as one among a number of environmental incentives for the industry in our pre-budget submission; on July 1, 2010, this exemption was replaced by input tax credits under BC’s new HST system.
- Strongly opposed TransLink's 10-Year Plan for 2010, which maintained that it needed an additional $450 million per year to “achieve a sustainable region” through steep increases in parking sales and property taxes and vehicle levy and property transfer taxes (this was one option – the most expensive – cited by the Plan for funding improvements to transportation in the Lower Mainland over the next 10 years, mostly focusing on transit). BCTA recommended the following strategies instead:
- TransLink needs to establish and invest in a robust and well resourced roads and bridges secretariat. An industry advisory group made up of commercial freight users would provide guidance to this organization, to help identify necessary infrastructure investments and develop a freight transportation strategic plan, including performance standards and system enhancements that will be implemented as and when performance standards are breached. This secretariat would be responsible for working with municipalities to reduce friction in the road network system that impedes the flow of freight transportation (e.g., removal of on-road parking on key truck corridors). It would also examine and create protocols for more efficient incident management.
- The secretariat would assess why and how road users are taxed, with the purpose of developing a rational framework that underpins a fair, reasonable and streamlined tax structure.
- The secretariat would develop a Transportation Demand Management strategy that distinguishes between discretionary (e.g., the user can choose a sustainable transportation option, including the transit system) and non-discretionary road use and supports and complements a new tax framework.
- TransLink needs to assess all options in terms of delivery of transit services and related support functions in a manner consistent with community expectations.
- TransLink should examine ways to reduce costs through, among other things, outsourcing transportation and support services to the private sector.
The Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation ultimately approved a far less ambitious transportation plan supplement that would generate $130 million in new annual revenue, intended to allow TransLink to maintain road and transit operations at current levels. New revenue came in part by a 3 cents/litre increase in fuel taxes levied within Metro Vancouver (to 15 cents/litre) and a transit fare increase on FareSaver tickets and monthly passes in 2010.
2008
The provincial government announced the elimination of the Coquihalla highway toll. BCTA had advocated a reduction in the toll to encourage truck traffic to move from the two-lane undivided Fraser Canyon Highway to the four-lane divided Coquihalla Highway for safety reasons. We believe that our campaign to reduce the impact of the carbon tax on diesel fuel contributed to the government’s decision to help reduce the industry’s costs on a different front.
Strong opposition from BCTA, other associations, and businesses caused TransLink to announce that it would collect only $9 million in taxes from Metro Vancouver businesses via a "replacement tax" intended to make up the now-defunct $18 million "parking tax" (see 2007 achievements, below). As a result, revenue generated from light industrial and business property taxes dropped from 2007 to 2008, with light industry paying $500,000 less and business paying $8.2 million less.
2007
Strongly influenced the abolition of TransLink’s “parking tax” – a property tax that punished industrial or light industrial property owners with flat land that “could” be used for parking – because of opposition from the public, local businesses and the “Park the Tax” Coalition, of which BCTA was a member.
Supported CTA’s goal to restore drivers’ federal income tax meal deductibility allowance to 80%, which the federal government finally agreed to in a stepped process – for expenses incurred in 2008, 2009 and 2010, the deduction was 65%, 70% and 75%, respectively. After 2010, the meal deductibility allowance remains at 80% annually. The 80% allowance had previously been a standard deduction but the government reduced it to 50% in 1994.