The Buzz

British Columbia: Employer Health Tax Exemption Amount Increased

The employer health tax is an annual tax on an employer's B.C. remuneration paid to employees and former employees in a calendar year beginning on January 1, 2019.

British Columbia’s Budget 2024 proposes an increase to the employer health tax exemption amount. We ask for your assistance in sharing this information with your members/clients.

Budget 2024 proposes to:

• Increase the exemption amount from $500,000 to $1,000,000.. Employers with B.C. remuneration below $1,000,000 are exempt from paying the employer health tax
• Increase the tax rate for B.C. remuneration between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000 to 5.85%

The proposed amendments apply to remuneration paid on or after January 1, 2024.

For B.C. remuneration paid by an employer during a calendar year which is greater than $1,500,000, the tax rate remains at 1.95%.

Please see our Employer health tax overview webpage for further details.

We suggest that you subscribe for tax updatesto receive email alerts if there are updates pertaining to the employers heath tax.