BiscottiGelato

Who can guarantee that the businesses will lower their prices for not having to pay PST themselves?

Also, taxing more and more just means the government will waste more and more.

Olympics is a blac ...
shutterbug 發表於 2009-7-24 11:27

I don't trust the gov't. However, the gov't is already in deficit because of various simulus activity that the public have urged them to engage. I personally is not a fan of big gov't nor socialism. However if they did in the end run into budget deficit via simulus, then I rather they quickly balance their budget as soon as the economic condition is slightly better, rather than to continue down a path of ever more debt.

Gov't are a-holes, I agree. But sometimes I'm even more tired of portion of the population who only think of themselves, think short term and 又食又拎. The bunch that 為反對而反對 is even more counter-productive (example, BC NDPs).

On this case only, I don't think it's a brilliant move, but I don't think it warrant that much of a concern either.

Some selected quotes from http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/Articl ... 0723?hub=TopStories

BC spokesman for Canadian Taxpayer Federation: "In theory, it's a good thing. In the short term it's bad for families, but over the long run it should help with economic growth and increase incentives to work and invest in the province," she said.

"The Business Council of B.C. applauded the tax marriage, saying the current system is outdated, inefficient and imposes heavy compliance burdens on B.C. businesses."

"Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) said the new tax system will help make B.C. exports more competitive in global markets."

mary123

Next July, we have to pay 12% HST for all goods and service.  Every tourist come here have to pay more than now. This HST brings a big impact to Tourist Business, Service Business and all citizen like us.  

The living cost becomes higher and higher.  People will move out Vancouver.  The tax will be more and more because of the decrease of population.  Don't forget the charcoal tax will be double next year.  Who can live in here?

God bless us ..

shutterbug

BG your quotes are from the business side and it does not represent most of the citizens. I guess you might want to include some quotes from the service sector where the casualty lies.

BiscottiGelato

BG your quotes are from the business side and it does not represent most of the citizens. I guess you might want to include some quotes from the service sector where the casualty lies.
shutterbug 發表於 2009-7-24 12:23

Canadian Taxpayer's Federation is not representing business views. It's 'supposingly' taxpayer's view.

I mean, if you are really concerned, they are more or less the first people you should ping. They are supposingly the ones that should fight for our (taxpayer's) cause.

starbug

新民主黨敗家
自由黨 搶錢

那麽我應該選邊一個黨？
elan7e 發表於 2009-7-23 23:07

新民主黨敗家嚟益自已友
自由黨搶錢之餘都做番本份, 咁你話嘞.

starbug

好嘢!! LYK 可以交多D稅!! 呀托生泉下有知一定好心涼.

daimo

新民主黨敗家嚟益自已友
自由黨搶錢之餘都做番本份, 咁你話嘞.
starbug 發表於 2009-7-24 13:39

If I were in the Union, I'll definitely vote for the NDP.  

ACC-HE

As much as I hate the new tax, I'm still not a fan of NDP....

Lik

Here's the reply from the premier's office:

OfficeofthePremier, Office PREM:EX <[email protected]>         Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 3:44 PM
To: Ah Lik <[email protected]>

Thank you for your email regarding a 12% harmonized sales tax (HST) in British Columbia.  Your concerns over any impact on the middle- and low-income family have been noted.

The harmonization of the GST with the PST will save our businesses more than $2 billion dollars as it makes them more competitive, encourages new investment and lowers administrative costs – all of which will increase economic prosperity and create more jobs in British Columbia.

The current PST is a costly and inefficient tax, almost half of which is hidden in the price of goods and services and paid by consumers.  Evidence from the Atlantic provinces shows that the hidden tax is removed very quickly with the introduction of a harmonized tax, with the majority of savings passed through to consumers in the first year.  B.C. would have the lowest HST in Canada:  all other provinces with an HST, and the one proposed by Ontario, have a rate of 13 percent.

The other good news is that the full cost of administration would be taken care of by the federal government, and with the adoption of the HST, our province would receive $1.6 billion from Ottawa to use as it sees fit.  In today’s current global economic downturn, this funding would help us to ensure that vital social services can continue to be provided.

It should also be emphasized that low-income families will receive a refund cheque four times a year to compensate for the HST, in addition to the federal GST cheques and the B.C. carbon tax credit cheques.

Since 2001, the B.C. government has taken significant steps to reduce taxes for families and improve the national and international competitiveness of our businesses.  The overall tax burden is generally the second lowest in all of Canada for B.C. families and will remain so after the introduction of the HST.

Again, thank you for taking the time to express your views and we hope this information is helpful.

Lik

A lot of government-embellished, candy-coated talk here, but at least it is good to see that low-income families will receive a refund cheque to compensate for the HST. This is a piece of information that I have never seen being reported in the various news articles I've read.

The thing is, however, how is a "low-income family" determined? And how is the amount of HST refund calculated? I'd like to find out what the calculation is based on, and while I am not really afraid of digging into government documents to find out, the process will obviously be tedious, and I will most likely not understand the account terms and methods of calculations well enough to know whether the math is reasonably fair.

-Lik