SURREY (NEWS1130) – Jump into your DeLorean! BC will be going “back to the future” next year when it ditches the 12 per cent Harmonized Sales Tax in favour of the old PST/GST tax regime.

The HST will be history as of April 1st, but members of the Surrey Board of Trade are nervous as they’ve been told precious little about how the seven per cent Provincial Sales Tax and the five per cent Goods and Services Tax will come back.

The aim of a forum today at the Eaglequest Golf Course is to clear up some of those lingering questions.

“We really feel that business needs to prepare now,” says board chair Anita Huberman. “We can’t wait until late fall, which could be December, until the federal government issues the federal regulations.”

“Businesses need to look at their 2013 year, look at systems that need to be changed, forms that need to be changed, and I don’t know why we have to wait so long for this information to come out,” she adds.

The provincial government came out with its guidelines only last week.

Huberman regrets emotion that trumped reason in last year’s HST referendum, but says there’s no sense in looking back now. She recommends businesses make their big infrastructure investments before April 1st to save money.

Consumers have been told to do the opposite, as services like haircuts, which were subject to the HST, are exempt under the old tax regime.