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Low and moderate income families and individuals are starting to see B.C.’s climate action tax credit in their bank accounts.
The Ministry of Finance says automatic payments will show up over the next week or so after the payments began to flow starting on Friday.
Finance Minister Katrine Conroy says the payments are bigger and that more than 100 per cent of revenue generated from recent carbon tax increases will go to the credits. B.C.’s carbon tax rose this spring from $65 per tonne to $80.
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The threshold for qualifying for the quarterly credits depends on household makeup. A family of four with a net income below $107,688 should expect to get a full or partial credit, while individuals with net income below $66,271 qualify for a full or partial credit.
The amount of the credit also goes up starting this month. Families that got $890 in the 2023-24 fiscal year will now get $1,005, while an individual who got $447 last year will now receive $504.
The ministry estimates about two million families and individuals — 65 per cent of the population — will get at least some of the tax credit in 2024-25. The goal is to include 80 per cent of individuals and families by 2030.
“In B.C., we are seeing low snowpacks, serious drought and record wildfire seasons,” said Conroy in a statement released Sunday. “As we put a price on pollution and work to protect communities from climate change, we are making sure it’s fair and we are providing support to middle- and low-income families.”
Money coming in from the carbon tax will be used “to help communities prepare for recurring climate events like wildfires, flooding and extreme heat — taking action before more disasters impact our cost of living,” said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. Where the money goes is tallied in an annual report available at gov.bc.ca.
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