Saturday January 6, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
In this first week of the 2024 new year, more than two million families and individuals in BC will have received their third quarterly Climate Action Tax Credit payment.
The timing of these payments is pre-set for the beginning of each fiscal quarter, but the provincial government led with a theme of helping after the year-end winter holiday season.
“With the global inflation and an expensive holiday season, we know people need support now more than ever,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Finance in a news release on January 5.
Affordability approach:
The BC NDP government has been using the word affordability in their announcements for years. Now it’s more about ‘helping’, as affordability of anything is questionable these days.
“These are big challenges around the world. By boosting the Climate Action Tax Credit, we are providing more help with costs for people in B.C. as we also drive down emissions and grow the economy. While others would hike fees and give polluters a free pass, we’re taking action to support people and create a more sustainable future so people can build a good life in B.C.”
The province’s Budget 2024 will be announced on February 22.
Combined with federal:
The rebate is delivered in combination with quarterly harmonized rebates from the federal government (including the federal GST/HST credit), as paid out through the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). This year the payout dates are January 5, April 5, July 5 and October 4, 2024 (by direct deposit or cheque).
In the past fiscal year, federally that was one time called a double GST rebate (October 2022) and then called the grocery rebate (as delivered July 5, 2023) as part of addressing the political stresses of rising grocery prices.
Those doubled payments were pressured for by the NDP in the House of Commons as part of providing more affordability support for Canadians.
These rebates sent out by the CRA can take up to 10 days to be delivered.
Despite the BC carbon tax rebate being a payment from the Province, it will appear on bank statements as a total payment from the Government of Canada.
BC income thresholds increased:
Last year, the Province increased the Climate Action Tax Credit to put more money in people’s pockets. No application is required. By filing a T1 Income Tax and Benefit Return, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) determines eligibility and automatically calculates the credit amount.
The Province also raised income thresholds to ensure B.C.’s clean transition remains affordable for more people.
The increases to the income threshold mean individuals with a net income less than $61,465 will receive a full or partial credit. For families, the income threshold changes depending on the family configuration, e.g., a family of four with a net income less than $94,845 will receive a full or partial credit.
The Province is also helping people deal with rising costs from global inflation through additional measures, such as the boosted B.C. Family Benefit that is received on the 20th of each month.
Rebate amounts:
These amounts are stated by the Finance Ministry:
- A single person can now receive as much as $447 per year from the BC government, more than double what they received in 2022.
- A family of four now receives as much as $893.50 per year.
- An estimated 70% of families and individuals who are eligible to get the quarterly payments from the Province can expect the maximum amounts.
The income ceiling for the credit will increase annually, with a goal to reach 80% of households in B.C. by 2030, as stated in the Ministry of Finance January 5, 2024 news release.
Presently the income thresholds used to calculate payments are:
- $39,115 for individuals
- $50,170 for families
Avoid fraudulent text messages:
The B.C. government will not contact people about the B.C. climate action tax credit by text message.
A text message about the tax credit may be fraudulent.
If unsure as to the source of a text message, contact the provincial government by email at ITBTaxQuestions@gov.bc.ca .
BC’s carbon tax:
The BC Government says that their provincial carbon tax is “an important part of the CleanBC plan to create a healthier future by lowering climate-changing emissions”.
However, there is no direct data to indicate whether households that receive the rebates are making any specific changes to actions that might contribute to climate-change emissions.
===== RELATED:
Alistair MacGregor: what the NDP did for Canadians in 2023 (December 31, 2023)
Grocery rebate to 11 million low-income Canadians July 5 (July 5, 2023)