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B.C. taxi officials are praising Ottawa’s decision to charge the GST on ride-hailing services, but Uber decried it as a “new tax on innovation.”

Federal Finance Bill Morneau indicated in Wednesday’s federal budget that Ottawa will amend the definition of taxi services under GST regulations to include ride-hailing as of July 1.

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That means drivers for Uber or similar services will have register for the GST, then charge and remit GST on all fares, as taxi operators already do.

Currently small-business rules mean ride-hailing drivers are exempt from paying GST if their total self-employment income was less than $30,000 a year. They only had to charge GST if their self-employment income exceeded $30,000.

Now all Uber drivers will have to remit GST, even they have no way to charge customers directly because payments aren’t made directly but through Uber’s app.

“I think it’s a huge win,” said Carolyn Bauer, who speaks for the Vancouver Taxi Association. “Every person operating a business has to be responsible for paying taxes.”