The B.C. government is hiking taxes on families this year. 

Here’s what that is going to cost you. 

Imagine a family living in the Okanagan. Both parents work and they’ve got two little ones running around at home. The family’s total income is $100,000 per year. 

That family is facing a 16 per cent provincial tax hike, this year alone. 

Inflation only went up 2.1 per cent over the past year, so that’s certainly not to blame for B.C.’s ballooning tax bills. 

The family’s total provincial tax bill is $3,239 this year, up from $2,793 the year before. 

That means Victoria is taking $446 more from that family this year. That’s a week’s worth of groceries for a family that’s already fighting to keep its head above water. 

This year, the family is paying $2,891 in provincial income taxes, $1,387 in provincial sales taxes (PST) and $265 in assorted gas taxes. The family is also getting $1,304 back from the government in assorted tax benefits for the kids. 

Last year, the family paid $2,808 in provincial income taxes, $977 in PST, $288 in gas taxes and $515 in carbon taxes. The family got $1,796 back in tax benefits. 

When you compare those numbers, income taxes are costing the family an extra $83 this year and PST is taking $410 more. Victoria’s decision to scrap B.C.’s consumer carbon tax is saving the family about $515, but the family is getting $492 less of its money back in provincial child benefits this year as well. 

That means the family is paying more tax and getting less back.    

Any savings the family saw when Victoria axed the consumer carbon tax have been gobbled up by tax hikes and benefit clawbacks.

Ottawa is also taking more money from the family this year. That family paid $7,866 in federal taxes last year and $7,972 this year, according to B.C. government estimates. That works out to $106 more for Ottawa this year. 

When you combine federal and provincial taxes, the family is paying $11,212 this year, up a total of $553 compared to last year. 

Here’s where it gets worse: Even if that family doesn’t make any more money next year, it’ll still be paying more provincial tax. 

That’s because the B.C. NDP hid an annual income tax hike, called bracket creep in the last budget. Bracket creep is a sneaky tax hike that happens when the government stops indexing tax brackets so inflation can push families into a higher tax bracket, even if they can’t afford to buy more things. 

The government is hiking taxes on the lowest income tax bracket, which means more money disappearing from your paycheque before it ever hits your account.

It’s expanding the PST on everything from security guards and architects to knitting needles and cable television. 

The tax take gets even more dramatic when you zoom out and take a bird’s-eye view of the province’s finances. 

The provincial government is planning to take $50.8 billion from B.C. households and businesses in taxes this year. Next year it’s taking $54.0 billion and the year after that $56.5 billion. That’s a nearly 12 per cent increase in the province’s tax take in just three years. 

Meanwhile, the province has lost nearly 60,000 private sector jobs in the past five months alone. That means there are fewer British Columbians paying a growing tax bill. 

Victoria can’t keep slapping families with tax hikes. It needs to cut wasteful spending so it can leave more money in families’ pockets. Lower taxes and less wasteful spending mean more money set aside for the priorities that matter to your family. 

You are the best person to spend your money. 

Carson Binda is the B.C. Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.