Another Tax, Big Surprise

Wow, it has been forever. I had the flu something awful at the beginning of February, and was sick for pretty much the whole month. Everything going on in my life has kept me so busy, that even after I was better blogging was low on the list to get back to. Also, not much happening in the news these days, and I didn't feel like blogging about myself. But finally, something has happened that has made me mad enough to crawl out of the woodwork.


In breaking yet another promise (no new taxes), the Ontario government has proposed that we "harmonize" our taxes with the GST. This is a fancy word for "increase" or "money grab". Changing our current 5% GST, 8% PST setup to a 13% HST setup will result in more money coming out of consumers pockets, no matter how it is looked at. Maybe it does make sense for the government, and will help with the deficit, but the middle of the worst recession since the 1930's is probably not the best time to jack up tax rates.


Right now, we have the privilege of having some provincial tax exempt items. Most grocery items, auto repairs, phone bills, heating costs, home purchases, and so on. After this legislation becomes active on July 1st of next year, we will pay our HST on everything, effectively increasing the costs of these goods and services by 8%. That's 80 dollars on a thousand dollar car repair. This is BEFORE inflation. Not to mention, anytime a government institutes a tax or fee change, companies take the opportunity to be predatory and increase costs ("due to the recent changes"). For example, I had my bank increase interest rates and fees recently due to the current economic climate, even though the Bank of Canada has decreased interest rates consistently for a while now.


Our premier, Dalton McGuinty, says they are going to issue a one time credit of $1000 to families making under $150,000. He also says this move makes sense, and will save taxpayers money. If it was going to save money, he wouldn't be offering a bribe to keep us quiet. Also, as usual, single people or unmarried couples are likely to get the shaft with this credit, even though their expenses went up just as much.


So this is just what the doctor ordered in this time of serious economic recession, an increased burden on the consumers. This will take purchasing power away from the lower and always diminishing middle class, leaving us more chained to the the tax monster's leg, which seems to be the only direction these changes go in. So if this doesn't change between now and then, remember to buy an extra bottle of booze in June of 2010 to celebrate more taxes on Canada Day. Maybe get a little bottle of KY from the pharmacy across the street as well. Might make the new taxing a little easier on you.