News release

Business Occupancy Tax Consultations

Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations (Oct. 2000 - March 2014)

SERVICE N.S./MUNICIPAL RELATIONS--Business Occupancy Tax Consultations


Business owners concerned about the business occupancy tax are invited to attend an information session being sponsored by the Nova Scotia government and the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities (UNSM).

The province and the UNSM are proposing to eliminate the business occupancy tax, which is a commercial property tax paid to municipalities. "The business occupancy tax has been described by businesses and municipalities as cumbersome to administer," said Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations Minister Barry Barnet. "Because it is connected to commercial property taxes, it creates an impression of double taxation that does not help our efforts to attract new business to Nova Scotia."

Municipalities raised about $80 million last year through the business occupancy tax. "Municipalities have told us that they cannot afford to forego this revenue, and commercial rates will almost certainly be increasing to replace the lost business occupancy tax revenue," Mr. Barnet said. "I believe that message is getting out, but it is important that business owners are fully aware that eliminating the tax will not mean a windfall for them."

Elimination of the business occupancy tax will make the commercial property tax more efficient for municipalities, as they will be dealing with one notice instead of two. Collection should also become easier as municipalities cannot place a lien against a business property for failing to pay its business occupancy tax, but can if commercial property tax is unpaid.

"The business occupancy tax is not a straightforward tax," said UNSM president John Morgan. "Different groups of businesses are assessed differently, and eliminating the tax will impact individual municipalities in different ways. It is therefore very important that, if we are to go down this road, businesses and municipalities have as clear a picture as possible of where we are heading. This is why the province and the UNSM are sponsoring these consultation sessions."

Six sessions are planned across the province where business owners and municipalities can learn how they could be affected by the business occupancy tax's elimination: Truro: Tuesday, June 29, Best Western Glengarry Hotel Greenwich, Kings. Co.: Wednesday, June 30, Old Orchard Inn Yarmouth: Monday, July 5, Rodd Grand Hotel Sydney: Thursday, July 8, Delta Sydney Halifax: Tuesday, July 13, Lord Nelson Hotel Antigonish: Tuesday, July 20, Claymore Inn.

All sessions are from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to review a discussion paper on the business occupancy tax, which can be found on the website at: <a href="http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/muns/fin/busocc-tax/">www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/muns/fin/busocc-tax/<a/> .