HIS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Part 1 – Income Tax Reduction

1 The Income Tax Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 215, is amended by adding the following section:

Adjustment in amount of income tax payable by individuals under 40 years of age

7.2 Despite any other provision of this Act, the amount of income tax that would otherwise be payable in respect of a taxation year in accordance with the provisions of this Act by an individual who, at the end of the taxation year, was less than 40 years of age, is reduced by 50%.

Part 2 – Public Sector Expenditure Reduction

Definitions

2 In this Part:

"public accounts" means the public accounts under section 9 of the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act;

"public sector expenditure" means, in respect of a fiscal year, all expenditures of the government as reported through the consolidated revenue fund that occurred in that fiscal year and that are included in the public accounts for that fiscal year.

Reduction of public sector expenditure

3 The minister must ensure that total public sector expenditure during the fifth fiscal year after the expiration of the last fiscal year before this Act comes into force has been reduced by at least 50% relative to total public sector expenditure during that last fiscal year.

Part 3 – General

Offence Act

4 Section 5 of the Offence Act does not apply to this Act or the regulations.

Regulations

5 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 41 of the Interpretation Act.

Commencement

6 The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table:

Explanatory Note

This Bill amends the Income Tax Act to provide for a 50% reduction in income tax payable by individuals under 40 years of age. It also requires the government to reduce its total public expenditure by 50% within 5 years.