WHEREAS over 30,000 BC residents earn a living directly and indirectly from the motion picture industry and rising competitive pressure is causing the motion picture industry to relocate to other jurisdictions; AND WHEREAS some provinces treat film production as a manufacturing process not a service while some jurisdictions have harmonized the PST with the GST and exempt film production from PST and other jurisdictions charge no PST: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities request that the Province harmonize the application of PST and treat film production as a manufactured product for PST purposes.
MINISTRY OF FINANCE The government of British Columbia has followed through with its commitment to improve the competitiveness of the film and television industry through a number of measures including: - Extending the Film Incentive BC and Production Services tax credits for five more years; - Providing an enhanced regional incentive for film credits; and - Introducing a Digital Animation or Visual Effects tax credit. In addition, government has undertaken to clarify the application of sales tax to this industry by updating information bulletins provided by the Ministry of Provincial Revenue. The film and television industry makes a valuable contribution to British Columbias economy and the governments initiatives recognize and encourage that contribution. In fact, film and television production in British Columbia reached a record 1.405 billion in 2003 representing a 47 increase over the previous year. The highest previous total was 1.18 billion in 2000.