Re your editorial "Suds of Success" on 27 November, my employees and I are very proud of our history in Prince George as the oldest independent craft brewery in BC.
In November we found ourselves hard up against an arbitrary production taxation limit for small breweries in BC. We faced a tax cliff of $10 million in higher additional--and retroactive--taxes triggered by one more can of beer off our production line.
It is akin to a taxpayer having to pay higher taxes in a higher bracket on extra earnings and all previous income as well. The disincentive to growth is obvious.
We had already paid $18 million in provincial taxes alone this year. It would have been impossible for us to continue operations under this punitive burden.
Three large foreign owned multi-nationals dominate 85 per cent of the beer business in BC. On the other hand, being a small batch brewery with only five per cent market share we are by this--or any other--measure a small business in our industry.
However, the influential lobby consortium of the big three national brewers has been active in Victoria pressing the government to tax us as a big business, which clearly we are not.
It is our view that taxes for small local brewers in BC generally are too high. While the government responded to our request for a review of the tax cliff and amended the policy, our taxes have still gone up--not down as many believe. They remain three times higher than a similar sized operation in Alberta.
Our 50 employees and their families in Prince George and I take considerable pride in the quality and customer acceptance of our world-class products. And we are proud of our role as corporate and individual citizens in our community. With a small business taxation framework that is fair, we can look forward to many more years of continued success in Prince George.
Kazuko Komatsu
President & CEO
Pacific Western Brewing Company
