Yes, I know I'll get hatemail on this but we already pay provincial and federal sales taxes. And we need to pay those taxes to fund the government.
(I won't go into the debate over sales tax, value added tax and income tax here -- certainly sales tax is closer to the flat tax beloved by the hard right but that's for another post -- for this post I assume we will continue to have provincial sales taxes and federal value added taxes).
The problem to be solved is that the sales taxes we pay now are uncoordinated and payable on different things in different ways. That creates transaction costs and paperwork. And that costs money.
Moreover, to quote Dwight Duncan, "right now there's a hidden tax -- businesses pay tax on tax on tax".
The Federal Conservatives were right to encourage Ontario to harmonise. (And the $4.3 billion federal sweetener helped).
Harmonising the GST and PST is sensible policy. What critics should do is focus on the mechanics and make it better. For example, perhaps disclosure of costs saved so that the market might require those savings be passed along. That's worth a debate.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
2 comments:
The real problem right now is a lack of transparency makes this tax impossible to properly sell. If it was revenue neutral then the whole thing makes sense for the reasons you've stated. But if it is revenue neutral then how is it the government has been able to afford the concessions it has been making regarding this, the last one expect to cost just over $300 million per year. Make it revenue neutral, provide all the details and then get on with it.
Deutsch und Ungarn National Sotialism= order und culture!!!
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