I get asked quite often how do I find the content for my Blogs? Sometimes I can’t keep up with all the changes and I have to pick what I think is the most relevant. Based on my Client’s feedback, I feel the BC Employer Health Tax is very relevant. Please forgive me for the length of this Blog, I thought it was important to report and attach all the appropriate links.
Almost every Employer I have met with over the past couple months has no idea how the new BC Employer Health Tax, effective January 1, 2019, is going to effect them and their employees. Employer’s are unsure what income the tax affects, how to report it and pay for it.
Employer’s who are participating in the cost of the Medical Services Plan (MSP) for their employees are getting a double hit in 2019. The NDP Provincial Government is requiring MSP premiums to continue throughout 2019 and the Employer Health Tax will be paid as well for 2019.
The other area I was surprised about was what the Government considers Employment Income. Of course we are expecting to pay on an employee’s salary, but the Government also considers the below as Employment Income:
- When you calculate your remuneration, include the following:
- Salaries and wages
- Bonuses, commissions and other similar payments
- Advances of salaries and wages
- Vacation pay
- Gratuities or tips paid through an employer
- Other taxable allowances and benefits paid to or on behalf of an employee
- Directors’ fees
- Amounts paid by an employer to top up benefits (e.g. maternity or paternity leave)
- Stock option benefits
- Employer-paid contributions to an employee’s Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP)
- Employer-paid group life insurance premiums
- Employer-paid contributions to employee trusts and employee profit sharing plans
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Exclusions
When you calculate your remuneration, exclude the following:
- Employer-paid contributions or premiums to
- Registered pension plan
- Private health services plan
- Supplementary unemployment benefit plan
- Deferred profit sharing plan
- Retirement compensation arrangement
- Pensions, annuities or superannuation benefits paid by employers to a retired employee
- Contributions by an employer to a plan or trust if the value of the employer’s contribution has already been included as remuneration
- Remuneration paid by employers who are status First Nations individuals carrying on business situated on a reserve
- Remuneration paid to status First Nations individuals working for a business situated on a reserve
- Employer-paid contributions or premiums to
Information for this article was found in a Blog that Shawnee Love from Love HR recently posted. It is one of the best articles I have seen that explains everything except how to submit the taxes to the Provincial Government. Shawnee Love is head of Love HR and is one of our most respected Human Resources (HR) specialists in our community.
Please contact Glendinning Insurance Services, Your Resource Specialist to review how your Employee Benefit Program is effected by the Employer Health Tax.