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Transit users lose tax credit

West Coast Express pass costs $439 a year.
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The federal budget eliminates the transit tax credit.

The federal government is funding transit improvements by cutting tax credits for the very people who use buses and trains, says Maple Ridge Mayor Nicole Read.

"They're robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

She noted that the riders buying monthly transit passes are going to lose hundreds of dollars per year in tax credits, and called it "a kick in the teeth" for the people who are supporting TransLink's system.

The federal budget, passed this week, allocates $2.2 billion for transit infrastructure in B.C., which will cover approximately 40 per cent of the cost of a light rail system in Surrey, and the Broadway subway in Vancouver.

However, the budget also eliminates a 15 per cent tax break for transit users who buy monthly passes. Eliminating the tax break Canada-wide will save the federal government an estimated $200 million a year.

The clawback elicited a groan from Susan Taylor, who was waiting at the Port Haney West Coast Express station on Tuesday.

"I think it sucks," said the Maple Ridge woman.

As someone who buys a monthly pass on the commuter train, for a weekday ride to Waterfront Station, she pays $244 a month. So the government just clawed back $439 a year from her.

"I think it's unfair when you think about it, because it's more environmentally friendly to take transit," said Taylor.

She and her family moved from North Vancouver to Maple Ridge to find a more affordable housing market.

"And now we get hit again."

She and the mayor both decried the government abandoning the tax break's aim of encouraging more people to take transit.

"Why cancel a tax credit that is an incentive for leaving your car at home and getting on the bus?" asked Read.

Because it wasn't working, answers Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge MP Dan Ruimy.

"The intention was to increase ridership … That didn't really happen," said Ruimy. "Sometimes you have to re-jig things."

He said the tax was brought in as part of the 2006 budget, but independent research has shown it was not an incentive that increased transit ridership.

Ruimy said the new tax regime will not effect most students, seniors or other people who have not been earning enough money for the tax credit to reduce their taxes.

Ruimy rather emphasized the $20.1 billion in the budget for improving public transit across Canada.

"I think it's a good budget, that continues what we started in 2016."

Riders will still be able to deduct the 15 per cent from their transit passes until June of this year.

 



Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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