Reinstating the combined 12 per cent PST and GST system will take at least 18 months, the provincial government said in a statement issued Friday shortly after the referendum's outcome was made public.
"We will work as quickly as we responsibly can to return to the PST," finance minister Kevin Falcon said. "We have always been clear that, as the independent panel found, dismantling the B.C. HST and returning to the PST will take time to do properly."
During this period, the provincial portion of the HST will remain in place at seven per cent and eligible lower-income people will continue to receive the HST credit until the PST is re-implemented. The B.C. HST credit will then be replaced by the re-implemented PST credit.
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