Last Thursday BC newspapers carried a large ad supporting implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax. The advertisement was signed by the “Smart Taxation Alliance” a group of 30 or so employer organizations. The ad carried the usual dubious arguments that transferring the cost of taxes from corporations to consumers will create vast economic activity. What [...]
Entries Tagged as 'HST'
The Smart Tax Alliance. Non-Partisan? Really?
August 8th, 2010 · Keith Reynolds · 4 Comments · Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
Will the HST boost job growth and when?
July 6th, 2010 · Iglika Ivanova · No Comments · Economy, Employment & labour, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes
As BC and Ontario have now started paying the HST at the till, many people may be wondering when exactly can we expect to see those jobs postings opening up. This is a good question. According to analysis commissioned by the BC government from economist Jack Mintz, titled British Columbia’s Harmonized Sales Tax: A Giant [...]
On the economic impacts of the HST
July 5th, 2010 · Iglika Ivanova · No Comments · Economy, Employment & labour, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes
My previous HST post focused on the impact of the tax on households and I concluded that it’s likely that it will cost families and that some modest income families will be hurt by the tax. Is this sufficient reason to campaign for the tax to be repealed? Not necessarily. Public policy is about choices [...]
The HST and BC family budgets
June 24th, 2010 · Iglika Ivanova · 9 Comments · Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes
That the HST will take a bite out of family budgets is clear to everyone. The main question right now is just how big of a bite. Two studies released earlier this week asked this exact question but came to very different conclusions. On Monday, the Fraser Institute released a paper arguing that lower and [...]
Tags: HST
HST And Family Budgets
December 15th, 2009 · Iglika Ivanova · 7 Comments · Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes
A recent report from the CCPA national office analyzed the impact of tax harmonization on family budgets in Ontario. Not a Tax Grab After All: A Second Look at Ontario’s HST made a splash with its finding that the introduction of HST will be largely a wash for Ontario families, as most households would be [...]
Tags: HST
HST: Why do the Feds want it so bad?
October 7th, 2009 · Seth Klein · 3 Comments · Economy, Taxes
As the debate rages in BC about the Harmonized Sales Tax, one curious dimension I’ve been puzzling over is this––why do the Feds want the HST implemented so badly that they are willing to fork over $1.6 billion to the province as an enticement? And it isn’t just the federal Conservatives. Ever since the introduction [...]
Droppin’ some HST
September 24th, 2009 · Marc Lee · 1 Comment · Poverty, inequality & welfare, Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
The province-wide revolt over BC’s looming Harmonized Sales Tax is reminiscent of protests a generation ago when the HST’s federal parent, the Goods and Services Tax, was born. The rationale for that shift was similar to that of the HST: to switch from an invisible tax paid by producers (the Manufacturers’ Sales Tax) that was [...]
