HST is 'monumental tax grab'
Posted By
Posted 2 months ago
After reading a couple of the editorials on your "Comment" page Nov. 5, I was left wondering; exactly when did I fall down the rabbit's hole? I am definitely NOT an economist (neither is our prime minister, despite suggestions to the contrary) but when I finished "In tune with Harmonized Sales Tax (HST)" and followed it with "Ontario must face huge deficit", I had an epiphany: to battle enormous budget deficits, all we have to do is reduce taxes at all levels of society (by creating a whole new level of tax ... the HST) and then ask the civil service to take days off without pay (Rae Days).
This is sounding like multiple deja vu. Didn't work before, but maybe it will work now. After all, the new and improved version does come with a few twists, the most popular part when we all start receiving cheques from our provincial government to ease the transition to HST.
Everyone knows a dumb question when they hear one, but here goes anyway: If the HST is such a great idea, why does our government have to pay us to like it? And, while we're at it, where does this payola come from? Oh, I almost forgot: the federal government is giving billions of dollars to Ontario to implement this "progressive tax". Whew! For a minute there, I thought it may be taxpayers' dollars. How silly would that have been: give us back our own money to cushion the blow of making us pay more for "EVERYTHING". We'd see right through that one, right?
I almost laughed out loud when I read how the HST would save businesses money and they would pass these savings on to us. This is a concept that has never worked in the past. Really, how many of us can think of a single business entity that has ever passed on "savings" to consumers (us) when given the opportunity?
Let's have a little childish fun and play "Who Has the Bigger List".
First let's consider those purchases on which we will NOT have to pay the full 13% Harmonized Sales Tax: children's clothing, children's car seats and booster seats; diapers; feminine hygiene products; and vooks ... don't forget to include audio books in this last group.
Now, let's have a look at an abbreviated version of the list that will, for the first time starting July 2010, be subject to our shiny new 13% HST: condo maintenance fees; gasoline; massage therapy; natural gas bill; taxi or limousine services; advertising in this or any other newspaper; water bill; guest lecturer fees at universities and colleges; consultant fees (like governments never hire these guys ... ); hotel accommodation; lawyer's, real estate and accountant's fees; hairstyling; and tradespeople (plumbers, electricians, painters, lawn and yard maintenance, etc.)
Then there's the purchase of farmland and some building lots (hard to imagine being asked to pay 13% tax on top of the purchase price of a $50,000 building lot, but that's the plan); imported items including some family gifts; commercial rents (a real boost to small business) as well as the sale of commercial properties; postage stamps; purchase of a new home (some rebates apply at different price levels, but it's still a whopper); investment management services of GM's pension fund; car repairs ... the list can seem almost endless, because it is.
I think you get the picture, but just in case, here is a quote from our very own Canada Revenue Agency: "Most goods and services supplied in or imported into Canada are subject to the GST". Now, keep in mind that the new Harmonized Sales Tax will add 8% on top of the 5% already collected on all these goods and services. Sounds like one heck of a tax break we're getting.
As for this notion that we should fall in line with Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador as the only provinces to harmonize their sales taxes with the GST, I have a better idea: why don't we fall in line with Alberta, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut? They have no provincial or territorial sales tax at all.
I'd hate to think we could end up like poor
Saskatchewan ... they harmonized their tax in the '90s only to reverse this decision when they realized what a dumb idea it was.
Remind me again: which province is outpacing all of Canada in economic growth? Need a hint? It starts with an S. They learned from their mistake. Let's not make ours.
Our provincial government is busy selling a monumental cash grab and they suspect we will allow it to happen. The pity is, they're probably right.
Contact your local MPP and tell them to stop this planned silliness.
John Hinman Cobourg
