Blogging British Columbia….
The BC HST is it Good or Bad?
I have waited awhile to comment upon the British Columbia HST (Harmonized Sales Tax)…The provincial Liberal government has taken a furnace of fire over the introduction of this tax. For those of you not from BC don’t be fooled by the name, they are not the far left provincial party that is the New Democratic Party…also the provincial Liberals are not associated with the federal Liberals (who are left wing). In general the provincial Liberals straddle the middle politically…they often take the best and worst of both sides…however the only realistic alternative (that could also actually form government) is the far left NDP….to confuse things even more the federal Canadian government is currently a minority Conservative government…
There is the question of whether the Liberals knew they were going to introduce this tax before the provincial election last year and did not inform the electorate about it…I am taking the position of looking at the tax itself…as unemotionally as possible…without regard to if the electorate was purposely deceived…
After some careful and prolonged analysis of the HST I regret to say that I find it to be a pretty good tax…not perfect to be sure but still overall it is a fair and open tax…
The question is do we need more taxes? We currently cannot afford the lifestyle to which we have become accustomed…do we increase taxes to pay for said lifestyle…keep taxes the same and cut government programs/spending…cut taxes and spending…
What would you cut? Education, healthcare, infrastructure…what?
Learn more about the HST….
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I sort of understand the US sales tax system, but have failed to grasp the European VAT fully. If it is a tax only on value added, is there any tax on foreign imports?
The first thought I had with the HST is can anything come out of the government with Harmony? But then thee is a GST it replaces. This loon's head is spinning ...
First I have to say I am once again amazed at how well informed and thoughtful you are…
The HST is a harmonizing of the GST (federal Goods and Services Tax. When it was brought in by the Progressive Conservatives [not Conservatives] in the 80’s people set their hair on fire, the federal Liberals said they would delete it but it is still here because it is a pretty good tax) and PST (Provincial Sales Tax). The present Conservative federal government lowered the GST from 7% to 5% as promised (who says governments never lower taxes!!!!).
British Columbia is being gifted a whack of money (can you say $1.6 billion?) from Ottawa to implement the new tax (implementation is not really that expensive so some see it as a bribe)…Many are upset because of the optics…less than two months after the last provincial election the province announced they were going to introduce the HST…
The fight against the HST has an extra bit of drama in that a former Social Credit BC Premier (some would say disgraced Premier…and the So-Creds were right wing) is leading the charge against the HST…of course the opposition NDP is also on the bandwagon…however as far as I know they have not said they would eliminate the HST if they got into power (but because of the HST they are now ahead in the polls…that being said we are still years from another provincial election…thankfully)
With the GST and PST we actually have a tax upon a tax for fuel! This will end with the HST…as far as I know there will be no additional hit on imports…of course we already have our arrangements with our friends from the south…(by the way with the elimination of the Vancouver Canucks from the Stanley Cup Playoffs I have now adopted the San Jose Sharks…have a look: http://vancouvercanucksfantasyhockey.blogspot.com/
Overall I would say our system is not quite as complex as that of the US (perhaps just because we have less provinces than you do states) and is much simpler than that of Europe…would you say that is a fair assessment?
BC saves money by farming out the taxation to Revenue Canada which means some people in our capital of Victoria will lose their high paying jobs…there should be a net savings…and this was so when Atlantic Canada joined up with the HST…Consumer prices fell (a direct correlation)…in Atlantic Canada jobs were created because of the change (and this seems prevalent around the world when this kind of system is implemented)…it is estimated that in Ontario (who is also now on board…another reason why BC now accepted the HST) some 600,000 jobs will be created over 10 years by this change…a same increase percentage-wise is expected in BC…
The HST is not perfect but it is also not as bad as many suspect…the way it was implemented does leave a bad taste in many people’s mouths…it may not be smart politics but it is pretty smart economics…
Please note I have created an addendum to the article with an additional link to another helpful source…
You may also find this interesting:
http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/opeds/DachisLaurin_VS_Aug11.pdf
Our California sales tax system is developing in a new direction. There are a lot of small restaurants that do a cash business. Inspectors have been sent around to count customers (i.e. one week sampling). Assuming $7 per customer, they calculate the revenues and then send the restaurant a bill for the estimated sales tax. If the restaurant has been paying less than the estimate, the restaurant also gets the privilege of paying a $20k fine or higher. The end result is people abandoning their businesses. That comes indirectly via a local Chinese language news source.
LS this is all you can pull out, lol? Okay it is good one, and I needed to hear one more time. Well to your question: What would you cut? Education, healthcare, infrastructure…what? - I already living 'thin', we stopped eating out, been cooking full force, lol, so this brings me to 0%. Hope it helps, lol. Anna :) PS didn't mean to rush you.
Looney…
Listen…*squawk!* that is the sound of the Golden State strangling the neck of the Golden Goose…which will have no restaurants around to serve it up…you like goose? As you are quoting an Chinese language paper I ask WWCD? What Would China Do? ;)
I tracked down some stats…It is estimated that BC will gain 116,000 jobs over the next 9 years directly because of the HST…The problem is the way it was presented politically…all the economist support it…for my sector it will be very good long term…
Hi Anna…
LOL Actually I do at times wait for request…really…so always feel welcome to ask or demand articles!!
If Ontario did not implement the HST what should they cut to compensate for lack of “revenue”? How can Ontario cut out eating out?
The HST for BC will definitely be good for the poorer persons/disabled etc of the province…their cheques will be better than from the GST…
HST would be disastrous for most British Columbians, including businesses. Coming down the pike is a tsunami that is massive increases in commodity prices including an estimated 200 per cent rise in petroleum gasoline and as much as 300 per cent rise in food prices. Once that happens (and it will) HST will be a crippling disadvantage because (1) people will have to spend more on basic needs (2) Businesses will suffer because of (1) and (3) the Province will have surrendered sovereignty of taxation to the federal government and no longer have the power to increase/decrease sales tax nor shift sales tax from/to purchases to mitigate.
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