statism watch

This must really be on the fast track, for Flaherty to go as far as to offer a taxpayer-funded bribe to ‘harmonize’ taxes to an HST standard across the country. What’s actually being slowly harmonized is Canadian tax law to the European VAT standard. Should make it just that much easier to implement that EU ‘free trade’ agreement you’ve got cooking away on the back burner, eh Mr. Flaherty? Surely you remember how well Canadians reacted to the GST. The ‘conservatives’ must be just about ready to hand the baton over to Ignatieff so he can take up ruining the country where they’ve left off, because an expansion of the GST after all the hype about reducing it two points is political suicide.

Flashback: BC, like Ontario, moves to harmonize taxes | Ontario Liberals pressing to hide new ‘harmonized’ tax in prices | Ontario to merge GST, PST in ‘harmonized’ tax hike | EU approves free-trade talks with Canada | Canada expects EU free-trade talks soon: Stockwell Day | Harper, Sarkozy vow to work toward Canada-EU deal | CD Howe Institute backs Canada-EU deal, deep integration | Towards a new world order: Canada-EU trade proposal rivals scope of NAFTA

CBC News
August 5, 2009

B.C. NDP Leader Carole James is a fierce opponent of the province’s tax harmonization plan, which she says would cost B.C. taxpayers $4 billion a year when they can least afford it. (CBC)

A day after Ottawa offered cash to provinces to harmonize their sales taxes across the country, the few holdouts remain cool to the HST idea.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Ottawa was willing to offer financial support to provinces choosing to harmonize their provincial sales tax with the federal GST.

Business groups like the idea because they argue it reduces red tape and lowers the tax on investment. But harmonization detractors argue it ends up costing consumers more in real terms because the GST applies to more goods and services than the provincial levy.

Though he stopped short of rejecting the plan outright, P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz says it will take more money than Ottawa is currently offering if he is to consider harmonizing provincial sales tax with the GST.

He said the revenue loss to the province must be offset before considering any harmonization proposal, and specifically requested that exemptions be allowed for home heating fuel and clothing.

In P.E.I.’s case, the blended tax would actually be lower. He acknowledged the plan would mean a tax cut for Islanders, but he also wants to ensure the province can afford to protect those most vulnerable, he said.

In Manitoba, a spokesperson for Manitoba Finance Minister Greg Selinger confirmed the province is looking at the offer. The province’s stance has traditionally been against any harmonization plan, but Ottawa’s subsidy offer appears to be enough to at least consider the proposal.

‘It’s a tough political decision’: economist

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall hasn’t warmed up to the idea.

He was a ministerial assistant when former Conservative Premier Grant Devine harmonized sales taxes in 1991 in what critics called a $200-million tax grab. Devine was defeated in the next election by the New Democrats, who split the taxes up again.

And the public uproar over harmonization in Nova Scotia contributed to the Liberal government’s defeat in 1999.

“It’s a tough political decision because it shifts the burden of taxation from businesses to consumers,” said Derek Burleton, an economist and director of economic analysis at TD Bank.

“Politically, it’s a challenging choice, but economically, it’s the right one.”

B.C. will receive $1.6 billion from Ottawa to help grease the wheels when the single tax takes effect July 1, 2010.

Ontario is getting $4.3 billion over two years. The Ontario government, which announced the change in its March budget, hopes to ease consumer pain and minimize the political fallout by offering cheques of up to $1,000 to families and individuals when it merges the taxes next July

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell has defended the move, saying the new 12 per cent blended tax will be the lowest in Canada and will save business millions of dollars a year, particularly in the construction, forestry and mining sectors.

But provincial NDP Leader Carole James has come out staunchly against the plan, launching a petition to block it before it becomes law next summer.

James says the HST will cost B.C. consumers $4 billion over four years in higher taxes for everything from restaurant meals and real estate to bicycles, haircuts and movie tickets.

She calls it a regressive tax that will make it tough on families, kill jobs and hurt small businesses just when the B.C. economy needs a break.

Campbell admits the HST will be difficult for some sectors and he’s promising to work with them to help them through the transition.

Source | See also under Taxation: BC, like Ontario, moves to harmonize taxes | Vancouver kicks off quest for ways to fund transportation system | Cost Of US Bailout Hits A Whopping $24 Trillion Dollars | Ontario to subsidize electric cars as auto-sector boost | G8 Summit: Rich nations to pay green tab | G8 leaders see no early end to stimulus | Climate Cops To Fine “Wasteful” Homeowners & Businesses | Goldman Sachs: The Great American Bubble Machine | US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive | Ontario Liberals pressing to hide new ‘harmonized’ tax in prices | Ontario unveils cap-and-trade legislation | Economic stabilization may rely on carbon economy, economist says | ‘Smart meters’ set to boost prices, track your power consumption by time of day in Toronto | GM deal likely involves bigger sacrifices: McGuinty | With interest rates at zero, Fed looks at going negative | Revenue Canada destroys man’s life, refuses to pay for million-dollar mistake | NRTEE Carbon Market Panel is ‘Round Table on Socialist Planning’ | Climate panel presses for federal cap-and-trade system | Which Banks Will Rule? | Carbon tax resurfaces in Liberal policy proposal | Canada Revenue Agency employees arrested in corruption probe | Obama, Gore, tied to Chicago carbon exchange | Ontario to merge GST, PST in ‘harmonized’ tax hike | Ottawa considering aid for private broadcasters | Barclays bank gags Guardian newspaper over tax avoidance leaks | UK Central Bank begins using ‘new’ money | NY Times: Mileage Tax Would ‘Track Where Motorists Have Been’ | Stimulus needed now, Bank of Canada says | Terence Corcoran: Ontario’s green energy plan sneaks in feed-in taxes | Obama outlines ‘hard choices’ budget | Cost of Afghan mission jumps to $11.3-billion | GM wants twice as much taxpayer’s money | Behemoth budget bill to be rammed through parliament unread | Obama signs stimulus bill | Obama takes heat for third cabinet appointee that hasn’t paid taxes | Tories seek extra $331-million for Afghan mission | Fed infrastructure money requires provincial spending | All maxed out? Budget measures would improve credit access | UK Slips New Garbage Bin Taxes into Climate Bill | UK: ‘Spy-in-sky’ trials get the go-ahead despite Government promise to scrap road-pricing plan | Oregon Governor Wants GPS-Tracked Vehicle Mileage Tax | GTA Transit plan needs taxation, ‘governance’ powers | Is road-tolls fix running out of gas? | Ontario raises minimum price for beer | Toronto council approves plastic bag charge, bottle ban | Maybe we should look at Zimbabwe before trying to print our way out of a money crisis | Deficits ‘essential,’ Harper says | Road tolls called ‘inevitable’ | Now the consumer crunch: falling credit limits, rising interest rates | Federal government stages another retreat on road tolls | Federal Road Toll Meeting Sponsorship Kept Quiet Until After Election | Toronto Mayor David Miller hails new taxes on water, trash | New credit cards may shift unauthorized-transaction liabilities to the holder | The Bush gang’s parting gift: a final, frantic looting of public wealth | Is an Internet tax coming? | Metrolinx considering road tolls after all | Bailout is “petty cash”, Inflation is the Federal Reserve’s real crime | Toronto Mayor delays garbage tax grab for twelve months | Garbage bin fee hike possible before new RFID bins even hit the kerb | Next Federal Reserve bank bailout round could cost taxpayers 1$ Trillion Dollars | Central banks continue inflating global economy | Central Banks Move to Transfer Wealth from Taxpayers to Banks | For Toronto, road tolls, fees ‘on the menu’ | B.C. carbon tax kicks in on Canada Day | Road tolls, a bitter pill that works | Microchip bin tax scheme to go ahead despite failures | Feds Stealing from UI fund, Layton says | Time has come to put ‘price on waste and pollution’: Dion | Toronto Residents Furious Over RFID Garbage Bins | Pay-As-You-Drive Car Insurance | Is it time for toll roads? | Metrolinx Proposes Satellite Vehicle Tracking for Road Tolls

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 12:35 pm and is filed under appropriation, taxation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.