Premier Christy Clark says her government will announce changes to the harmonized sales tax on Wednesday aimed at lightening the tax burden on B.C. families and convincing voters to keep the tax in next month's mail-in referendum.

"I'm hoping people will like the fixes that we've proposed and ultimately they are going to make the decision," Clark said Tuesday.

Clark said she won't provide details of her plans to fix the HST prior to the announcement, but hinted broadly she wants to bite into the extra $350 in taxes the HST places on families.

A recent independent panel report completed by former Alberta finance minister Jim Dinning concluded the HST will add $350 in costs to B.C. families.

"I came into office saying I want to support B.C. families," said Clark. "People want to make sure we are addressing the number the independent panel put out saying that families are going to be affected on average by about $350 each."

Clark told delegates at the recent B.C. Liberal convention that she is concerned about the HST adding to the extra financial squeeze families are facing.

"We are looking at the HST through a family lens," she told the convention delegates.

At the convention, Liberals told Clark to consider cutting the 12-per-cent tax down to 11 or 10 per cent, offering cash rebates and eliminating the tax from environmentally-friendly products like bicycles and from restaurant meals and some sizes of children's clothing.

The Ontario government handed each of its citizens a cheque for $1,000 to help ease the burden of the HST.

Clark would only say "wait until tomorrow (Wednesday)."

Finance Minister Kevin Falcon is slated to make the HST announcement Wednesday.

Ballots for the mail-in referendum will be sent out starting on June 13 and the vote result is expected in mid-August.

Opposition New Democrat Leader Adrian Dix said Clark's planned HST changes appear to be more of a face-saving exercise for the Liberals than help for families.

He called on Clark to dump the tax, which he called regressive and nowhere near the job and investment creating tool the government boasted about when the HST was first introduced.

"They are going out trying to fix it for the B.C. Liberal Party, not for the economy or the people of B.C.," said Dix.

"I don't think anyone really believes that this is more than a cynical effort to buy votes with public funds. What the government should do is withdraw it."

The HST, introduced in July 2009, became law last July and combines the five-per-cent federal goods and services tax with the former seven-per-cent provincial sales tax into one 12-per-cent value-added tax.

The HST has been a huge political headache for the B.C. Liberals ever since it was introduced in July 2009, less than three months after the Liberals won their third straight B.C. election.

The uproar over the HST prompted a provincewide repeal petition campaign led by former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm. More than 500,000 British Columbians signed the petition, forcing a referendum next month that asks voters if they want to repeal or keep the HST.

Former premier Gordon Campbell announced his early retirement last November -- 18 months into his third term -- practically admitting he had become the public face of the HST and the government couldn't move forward until he left office.