The B.C. government will phase out Medical Services Plan premiums a year earlier than promised in the last election, and impose a payroll tax on larger businesses to recover some of the revenue collected by CanadaB次元官网网址檚 last remaining health care charge.

The B次元官网网址渆mployer health taxB次元官网网址� takes effect Jan. 1, 2019 and applies to businesses with annual payrolls of more than $500,000, some of which now pay MSP premiums on behalf of their employees. The tax rate is 1.95 per cent for businesses with payroll above $1.5 million, with reduced rates for payrolls between $500,000 and $1.5 million.

Businesses that pay employeesB次元官网网址� MSP, at a rate that was cut by half at the start of 2018, will also pay the payroll tax for a year, before MSP is ended on Jan. 1, 2020. People who pay their own MSP will save an average $900 per year for individuals and $1,800 for families when MSP is eliminated.

Finance Minister Carole James said the decision to stop MSP and recoup some of the revenues via tax is similar to what other provinces have done, and B.C.B次元官网网址檚 payroll tax has a lower rate than Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba. The tax is expected to raise $1.9 billion per year, compared to $2.6 billion collected when MSP was at its highest rate in 2016-17.

Consultation showed that getting rid of MSP premiums early was preferred for individuals as well as businesses, James said.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e complex, theyB次元官网网址檙e tough to administer, and weB次元官网网址檝e heard that over and over,B次元官网网址� she said.

Revenue from the new tax will help pay the $1.5 billion increase in health care spending over the next three years. That includes $548 million over three years to improve care for seniors and $150 million to provide primary care teams for people who donB次元官网网址檛 have a family doctor.