statism watch

Alright, everyone – call off the resistance. The tax is *fine*. You’ll be able to get a processed chain cheeseburger full of filler without paying the additional 8% tax. Of course prepared food, if you can still afford to shop for groceries, will be going up by the difference between the PST and GST as will the vast majority of consumer goods, but just don’t worry about that right now. We’ll be on the European system, so it will be that much easier to integrate with the EU! Books and tampons are exempt too! Jobs will be produced, as though by magic! Make sure you send Dalton McGuinty, his cabinet, and your local Liberal MPP your most sincere thanks.

Flashback: McGuinty says HST doubters exist in Liberal ranks | If passed, HST locked in through 2012 | New HST tax is fair, McGuinty says | Thousands rally against coming HST tax in BC | Flaherty offers taxpayer-funded bribe to adopt HST tax, holdout provinces demur | 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
November 12, 2009

Certain-priced fast food, beverages escape tax’s provincial part

Fast food, coffee and newspapers are some of the items the Ontario government says will be exempt from a controversial blended sales tax the province will implement next year.

“It’s important for Ontarians to know that today’s announcement is about far more than not raising coffee prices,” Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said in front of the backdrop of a Tim Hortons franchise in Toronto’s west end.

“It’s part of a much larger, comprehensive tax package that will create jobs.”

The exemptions announced Thursday on food or beverages heated for consumption, salads, sandwiches; platters of cheese, cold cuts, fruit and vegetables will cost the province $325 million in revenue, Duncan said, but the plan will more than pay for itself in jobs created and by expanding the tax base overall.

The McGuinty government has already secured that books, children’s clothing and footwear, diapers, car and booster seats, and feminine hygiene products will be exempt from the eight per cent provincial component of the tax.

Other items, such as basic groceries, most health and education services, prescription drugs and childcare would not be subject to the HST, the province says.

Over three years, the province claims the HST plan will provide $10.6 billion in direct payments and permanent tax relief [Ed. Note: ?!?] for residents of Ontario, and 93 per cent of Ontarians can expect a personal income tax cut as a result.

Opposition alleges tax grab

The 13 per cent HST kicks in on July 1, the same day British Columbia plans to bring in a 12 per cent harmonized tax.

Duncan touted a recent report from tax expert Jack Mintz, who said harmonizing the sales taxes combined with corporate and income tax cuts will help create an estimated 591,000 new jobs in the province over 10 years.

Opposition parties have labelled tax harmonization a massive tax grab.

They say merging the Ontario sales tax with the five per cent federal GST will hike the cost of many items currently exempt from the provincial levy.

The merged tax will still apply to items like gasoline and home heating fuel, the opposition notes.

Source | See also under Taxation: GPS Tracked Road Tolls Back On Agenda for Toronto Metrolinx | Report suggests road tolls, parking and fuel taxes for GTA | Everyone in Britain could be given a personal ‘carbon allowance’ | Czech President: Copenhagen to be ‘Largest tax increase in world history’ | McGuinty says HST doubters exist in Liberal ranks | Copenhagen’s Plans for a New ‘Government’ are Scary | UK: Secret Plan for Euro Income Tax | Copenhagen, carbon, and the global corporate agenda | Electronic health is the boondoggle of boondoggles | IMF chief wants global bank tax | Canadian taxpayers on hook for any H1N1 vaccine damages | Ontario deficit $2.5B worse than expected due to drop in corporate tax | Ont. gives green energy price guarantee | If passed, HST locked in through 2012 | New HST tax is fair, McGuinty says | Thousands rally against coming HST tax in BC | Sarkozy launches carbon tax to help ’save the human race’ | Quebec’s photo radar starts ticketing | Flaherty offers taxpayer-funded bribe to adopt HST tax, holdout provinces demur | 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 Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 2:44 pm and is filed under appropriation, economics, 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.