I got this email today from Grahame who works at the Minister’s Office at the Ontario Ministry of Revenue addressing our previous blog discussions about HST. Although I don’t necessarily agree with everything they said, I’m actually very impressed that they took the time to read people’s opinions.
My name is Grahame from the Minister’s Office at the Ontario Ministry of Revenue and I read your blog post referencing the Harmonized Sales Tax. With the recent implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) it is important to learn about how the HST will affect people in Ontario. Based on the focus of your blog, I thought this might be helpful information to provide your readers.
This is about creating jobs and putting people back to work. Within 10 years our comprehensive tax package will create nearly 600,000 new jobs, attract $47 billion in new business investment and increase wages.
The HST is part of this comprehensive tax package that will see 93 per cent of Ontarians receive personal income tax cut. With these cuts Ontario now has the lowest provincial tax rate in Canada on the first $37,106 of taxable income. In fact, 90,000 low-income Ontarians will no longer have to pay Personal Income Tax.
To help families we have introduced a permanent $260 Sales Tax Credit for low- and middle-income adults, children and seniors. In total $4.2 billion in transition payments will be delivered to help Ontarians adjust to the Harmonized Sales Tax. It is important to remember that every $100 in tax relief is equivalent to the 8% tax on $1250 in newly taxed items.
We are exempting children’s clothing and footwear, infant and child care seats, diapers, books, food under $4, newspapers, and feminine hygiene products, from the provincial portion of the HST.
Please find more information on the tax breaks for people here: http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/en/taxchange/families.html
Another helpful document is a list of what’s taxable under the HST and what\’s not: http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/en/taxchange/pdf/taxable.pdf.
For more information about the HST please visit www.ontario.ca/taxchange.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding the HST or the government’s tax reforms.
Thank you,
Grahame
www.twitter.ca/riversgr
Blah…blah…blah….Can’t stand the lying Liberals! HST = Tax Grab.
Big brother watching.
Conform or be cast out.
What did he do…cut and paste this off their website?
Pretty much Shannon, looks like he is political staff and not non-partisan OPS staff too
Thanks for upping my university tuition HST.
It seems to me like the government did a poor job at initially explaining why the HST is good for Ontarians. Despite the fact that we do pay more for a lot of things right now, the fact that there is a single flat tax at the consumer level, as opposed to when the PST was charged at all stages of input, means that the HST is actually a good thing. I agree that it appears to be a tax grab, but in reality the HST makes good economic sense.
HST only helps big business grow bigger, earn more while all the small businesses start paying more. I remember the liberal guy saying that companies will pass on their savings to us. This IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. The majority of us are all going to suffer. You know what we need to do, cut back this $100,000 salary of theirs. They should be given the minimum wage. They are not gonna feel any damages done to them. They get $100,000 plus other expenses paid off. You think this is fair?
hya – HST is not charged on tuition. There is more information available for students at http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/en/taxchange/students.html
Seen it before and this certainly didn’t change my opion.
I’m sure the single mothers aren’t too concerned they aren’t paying HST on thier kids shoes seeing as they won’t be able to afford the shoes after paying the heating bills!
whatta crock.
Well, I will believe it when I see it! Re: creating jobs! BF worked at a factory for 23yrs & it closed down 5 yrs ago, & he has had 3 or 4 other jobs but only for about 6-8 months out of the year…Currently, he has been laid off since Oct 2009 & no sight of any new prospects in the Chatham-Kent area….Several manufacturing jobs are GONE to China/Mexico/India etc!
I never believe the Govt when they say “something is good for you” Blahhhh!!!!
Why don’t they take a pay cut! Also they could cut the HST to 10% & really make an impact!
I like how they say that all of these wonderful things will happen in 10 YEARS! Give me a break. In 10 years the HST will just be a fact of life like the GST was and nobody will even question if it lived up to its promise of improving the economy.
Sure there will be new jobs created but there could also be thousands of jobs lost every year when companies move to other countries or go out of business. Do we get our money back if that happens?
I don’t mind paying taxes – I mind when I am lied to about the reasons for them. If the province needs more money, then tell me that. Don’t give me some crap about it helping businesses in the long term.
I realize I am rambling but there are just so many aspects of this tax that are completely ridiculous that it drives me a little crazy.
Why doesn’t the government cut back on lavish government meals and other government expenses. When the Minister goes on business trips he can take the bus. When the Minister eats with other government officials they can feast on pork and beans. When the Prime Minister needs a place to stay during business trips then he can sleep over at a friends house. This is the lifestyle that the majority of Canadians are now living. There are other ways to collect money in order to generate jobs besides taxes, taxes and more taxes.
Yes it sucks that I now have to pay more for utilities, gas, etc, but I agree with Brad that we will benefit overall in the long term. Until now, PST was hidden in the supply chain. By the time the products got to the consumer, those cumulative hidden taxes were paid for by us. Now that its visible, companies can claim it and use the savings to lower prices and/or create more jobs. Also keep in mind that income taxes have been lowered. Depending on your spending and tax situation, you could actually save money.
My only complaint is with gasoline. It already contains PST so I don’t understand why it had to go up. Fortunately Costo just open a gas station near me with is 7 cents less than the others!
For those suggesting that the HST is causing lost jobs, look at the impact of the GST. Its introduction has increased jobs and made Canadian companies more competitive. Jobs have been lost because of the recession, high Canadian dollar and cheap overseas labour not the HST. If you want to earn a $1 a day with no benefits or human rights, I’m sure all those manufacturing jobs will come back. Or, you can stop supporting products made in China, India, etc and buy Canadian made goods.
Oh, another idea, why don’t all of the politicians who are making over $100,000 a year for their job, each take a pay cut of $50,000 a year? That way we could generate an extra job for each political government member.
This made me giggle like a school girl. We will never see cheaper prices because retailers are saving money. I don’t know how this will create jobs because now it costs even more to companies to buy supplies etc. What a joke. Did they brainwash themselves to believe that the HST is a good thing?
ever since the hst was put into effect on july 1st gas has been slowly climbing. yesterday it was 103.7 and today it went up to 104.2. It’s insane. Half of what I make in a week is now going to gas, possibly more. The government really needs to look at how much it pays minimum wage workers and realize that due to the HST we cant afford to live.
Interesting that he didn’t put his last name!
Ok, I’ll stand out and take the unpopular view that at least the political staffer took the time to send in a response to the blog. It’s a very small measure, but it does demonstrate that at some level the gov’t is at least concerned enough to read the comments and provide some feedback.
(disclaimer: yes I voted for them – but only to stop Harris from completely destroying the province – who the heck else was there!?!)
Another positive step the liberals took was to pull the environmental tax. Granted it should never ever have been implemented in the inept half assed way in the first place, but again – they deserve some small bit of credit for at least listening to the feedback and taking a step back.
Too bad they couldn’t have done the same with the HST!
It’s nice that someone responded, but am I the only one who’s surprised that a government ministry official linked to his own personal twitter account where he talks about his personal hobbies (mostly seems to be cycling)? Doesn’t seem very professional…
^ maybe to make him look more human? 😉
Sally: Reminds me of the “I’m A tax man, not THE tax man” episode of Corner Gas. 😉
I liked it better when the PST was hidden and things cost me less, including gas! If retailers ever pass on the savings to the customer I would be very surprised. Hydro One already claimed that by charging PST to it’s customers it could reduce delivery costs…..then they increased delivery costs.
Sounds about right.
CarlyinCanada, manufacturing jobs are going to India/Mexico/China because consumers don’t want to pay the full price for labour. I don’t see the gov’t forcing us to buy stuff from China. No offence.
The gov’t did an awful job in explaining the HST, but I like that I don’t have to pay much on my income tax. Consumer tax is something I can control how much I spend.
Tell that to the Senior on fixed income who has to pay 8 % more on his hydro bill , 8 % more on his heating bill , 8 % more on his gas ( car ) bill , 8 % more on his hair cut , 8 % more on his Vitamins which only had GST before this ..& the list of other items which have gone up by 8 % is too long for me to print here .
BTW my internet bill has also gone up by 8 % so its costing me 8 % more to write this comment ..LOL ..formerly only 5 % GST on Internet bill
I really do not comprehend how a tax creates jobs. In my mind demand for a product/service creates jobs.
@Sally/Lori
A new tax or increased taxes do not create jobs, but moving from a hidden tax to a visible one means that companies can now claim it on their income taxes and get money back. Technically that means more profit for them, but it also means that companies that previously couldn’t afford to add more workers now can. Alternatively, they can use it to lower prices and stay competitive. Since individuals can’t claim HST, our personal income taxes were lowered to compensate.
As a shopper, you won’t necessarily see lower prices because they may be using the money to expand their business instead, which means more jobs. When the gov’t says we will see lower prices, they don’t mean that everything will go down. Obviously there are other factors in pricing including the cost of oil (to create plastic), inflation, etc. Its probable that the hydro delivery cost increase Louise mentioned was more likely due to high oil prices and it would have been higher had the PST savings not been there to offset some of it.
Jack Mintz, who did the study predicting job growth,
has long time ties to provincial and federal governments
and is not averse to making assessments on flimsy
statistics. McGuinty, also, definitely has trouble with telling
the truth. Meanwhile, McGuinty and my MP cannot
explain why the Maritime Provinces, that have had
the HST for quite sometime, are still have nots.
Below, is an email that is making the rounds.
————————————————
Dalton McGuinty
Here is what our premier has done for Ontario in the past seven years !!!!!!
This was a no tax increase election campaign.
He increased all the licensing fees from your car to your boat including fishing and hunting.
He introduced the health care premium (not called a tax) some couples pay as much as $1,500.00 a year.
He doubled the price of most lottery tickets. (Not called a tax).
He has put a ECO tax on many containers such as paint cans and window washer fluid. Most people still don’t realize it is on your bill; he kept that one real quiet.
He has put a disposal tax on all electronics.
He has put the disposal tax back on tires
Now don’t forget that all except the health care premium are subject to the GST and PST (taxes on taxes.)
And now he has passed the HST, the largest tax on the province ever. The only other tax in Ontario that ever came close to this in the past was the health care premium.
He passed this bill even though 76% of the people in Ontario were against it.
This HST will provide the Province with an additional THREE BILLION dollars a year.
And now we will have our S.M.A.R.T. meters that we will have to pay rent on, and do our laundry in the middle of the night, and we are going to pay big time for air conditioning from now on because when we need it the most, that will be prime time. As if it costs any more to produce hydro at two in the afternoon or ten at night – another tax grab.
Let us not forget the E health scandal with one point two billion dollars wasted and paid out to friends and relatives.
What was Mr. McGuinty’s answer to this (well if the people of Ontario don’t like it they can show it in the next election.) Nice attitude. This was after he fired the CEO and gave her a severance package of three hundred thousand dollars not bad for only having the job for seven months.
Then the windmill power plant he awards the contract to KOREA – seven BILLION DOLLARS. One would think that there was some place in Canada or North America that could have built these.
He closed the emergency rooms in Port Colburne and Fort Erie because there is not enough money and there have been two deaths since, because by the time they got to St.Catharines it was too late.
But he awards a hospital in Toronto – three million dollars in the riding where there just happens to be a by- election to replace George Smitherman
He has taken the richest, most prosperous province in Canada to one of the poorest and has created a deficit of TWENTY SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS and he still has a year and a half to go.
And don’t forget his nice little salary increase of $40,000.00 a year, – millions of people in the province don’t earn half that.
All the MPP’S got a 14% increase.
Now that they all got nice increases he comes out with a new budget and freezes all provincial employees wages for two years.
He has increased the hydro by 10% in April of 2010.
He has increased the tax on liquor and wine by 10% in May of 2010.
But mister no tax McGuinty will retire with his nice comfortable pension and all his paid benefits.
I hope this gets passed around the province of Ontario and everybody will remember the way we got screwed by mister McGinty and the liberal party.
Not one liberal MPP had enough guts to vote against any of the above.
Jay
(disclaimer: yes I voted for them – but only to stop Harris from completely destroying the province – who the heck else was there!?!)
That’s fine for the first term. What was your excuse for the second term?
A liar is a liar is a liar. The liberals have to go. Whatever happened to “I will not raise taxes!” What a crock of #!%&
All this guy has done is raise taxes. He was almost successful at sneaking in the stupid Eco Tax too! Nice one Dalton.
And all of you that are mad about the government and their salaries, don’t forget the poor people at the PST office. Those poor shnooks were going to loose their jobs so they all go severance packages and then got rehired by the HST office !!!!!! That is the government at work!
Before you vote at the next election, look back at the past few years and decide your vote on that and not just the fancy promises made during the election.
Anyone whow actually believes the HST is good for us has drunk the Koolaid.
original blog post (the one in question) here
http://smartcanucks.ca/hst-cheques-arriving-today-for-ontario/
may have been helpful to link it. 🙂