The second year of B.C.’s employer health tax to replace Medical Services Plan premiums has arrived, and for many small businesses, 2020 is when they have to write their first cheques.
While larger business and local governments began paying the tax in instalments during 2019, small businesses that just clear the $500,000 payroll threshold have a deadline of March 31 to pay up for last year’s tax. Larger businesses have the same deadline for paying the remainder of their 2019 employer health tax.
Small businesses are least likely to have been paying MSP premiums for their employees, so for them it’s a new payroll cost. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business estimates that more than 40 per cent of small- and medium-sized businesses must pay it. For many it’s on top of higher property taxes, as municipalities raise rates to pass their extra payroll costs on.
