While our newly minted Premier plays house, dressing up first as a waitress and working a couple of hours in a local diner, and with plans to dress up as a nurse and a garbage collector in the near future, the HST road show continues on.
Unfortunately, the blue ribbon HST panel reported this week it is not hitting the same notes as the government would like, as evidenced by the report A Taxing Situation, which was released this week.
Despite the fact that more than 700,000 British Columbians, (more than who voted in the last provincial election), supported the petition opposing the HST, Premier Clark insisted on setting up a panel as part of a consultation process that should have happened with voters before the HST was sprung upon us.
The panel asked "Are you in favour of extinguishing the HST and reinstating the PST in conjunction with the GST, Yes or No?"
Here's what they had to report after a dozen weeks of hearings, consultations and study.
1.British Columbians on average will pay $350 more every year on routine expenditures under the HST.
2.17 per cent of your household spending is now subject to HST that was not taxed before.
So, is this a tax shift to consumers from business.
3.Under the HST system ... most businesses receive full rebate on sales tax paid on items they buy to make a product or service. Businesses can pass on their HST rebates to you in the form of lower prices..."
So how's that working for you? As business slowly crawls out of the Great Recession, and with City Hall hammering them with double digit property tax increases, few are in a position to lower their prices. Even the government owned BCLC refused to lower prices on liquor when the HST was introduced.
4. Kathy Nadalin from Prince George commented in the report, "Since the implementation of the HST, seniors eating at our seniors centre now have to pay the HST. This has cut down on the attendance to our meal program."
5.The panel has concluded that in 2011/12 ...families now pay a total of $1.33 billion more sales tax after the HST rebates and tax breaks are taken into account. Business will pay about $730 million less in taxes. Guess who pockets the difference?
6.According to the panel, the inflation rate in B.C. spiked to 1.1 per cent while the rest of Canada was at .05 per cent after the HST was introduced.
7.Instead of the 100,000 or more new jobs the Liberals predicted would be created by the HST, the Panel concluded it would be more like 24,400 - a 1 per cent increase in total employment.
8.With a majority government thanks in part to the voters of B.C., and as he readies to pay Quebec $2 billion in hush money for having harmonized their sales tax 10 years ago, it is unlikely that Prime Minister Harper would strong arm B.C. for the $1.6 billion in "transition" money it paid B.C. to implement the HST.
9.The HST has been a windfall for the government. Not only is the HST raising more money in the first year than predicted, it will continue to raise more revenue than the PST/HST system did because it taxes a broader base of goods and services.
10.By rescinding the HST, the B.C. government now regains control over our tax policy which allows us to control how our dollars are collected and spent rather than be at the whim of a bureaucrat in Ottawa. This is a big deal.
The report concludes by basically making a lot of assertions that they themselves admit are a shot in the dark. While they say rescinding the HST will hurt the B.C. economy, a lot of it is just guess work.
What we do know is we have a rare opportunity to strike a blow for democracy and honesty and transparency in government. This tax is the biggest cash cow since the carbon tax for the government. It was imposed behind our backs, and the closer we look at it, the more apparent it becomes that the benefits just aren't there. It represents a massive tax shift onto the backs of British Columbians, and we need to vote to rescind the HST in the upcoming referendum.
