"First, the harmonized tax is part of a major tax package which tax specialist Jack Mintz calls “the sharpest reduction in the tax burden on capital investment in any one province” he has ever seen."
That's already been discussed above and the average citizen doesn't give a rats ass what burdens capital investments have on a province.... what they care about are their own burdens.... and if businesses and corporations decide not to pass their savings to the customer (no obligation to do so) then once again.... it's yet another break for big corp while the people who need the savings the most end up paying more.
It makes no lick of difference to make it easy for companies to conduct business if their customers and clients can't afford their products or don't have as much money to blow on their products. Less income usually means people are more stringent with their money.
"Second, the tax shifts the burden of taxation from income to consumption. It removes a major distortion in the current system by taxing only the value added at each stage of production rather than at each point of sale. This will be a major benefit to service providers such as electricians, plumbers and computer specialists who now have to pay the provincial sales tax on the tools and supplies they need to do the job. The harmonized tax will allow them to claim tax credits on these goods and pay tax only on the value added. Further the harmonization eliminates the need for business to comply with two separate and different sales taxes, which will be a major cost savings especially for small business."
Once again, the majority of citizens don't give a sh*t about companies and businesses getting breaks.... they've been continually getting breaks from both the Conservatives and Liberals for years, all the while the onus of spending seems to always fall on the average person.
None of this improves poverty, none of this helps low/middle income families and none of this helps reduce the costs of the everyday products everybody has to spend money on.
"Third, the harmonization will make a major contribution to removing barriers to the internal Canadian market. While Canada and Ontario have long benefited from the global reduction of trade barriers, internal barriers such as conflicting provincial regulatory regimes on transportation, health, safety etc. have long weakened Canada’s international competitiveness by making our small market even smaller. Ontario is as guilty as any province in creating such obstacles. However, by adopting the harmonized tax the province will join British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland/Labrador in removing a major obstacle from an integrated domestic market."
Ah.... so because these other provinces were chumps in accepting the HST, it must be a good thing. :roll:
The only reason why there is any sort of affect in our internal market is because now we have a % of provinces using HST and another % of provinces using PST/GST....... where in the past, most provinces' PST taxes were about par while the GST was consistent across the country....... now that they introduced this stupid HST in a few provinces, it now gives them leverage to force the rest of the Canadian provinces to adopt the HST in order to make things more "consistent" across the country and avoid this cross-province confusion they created in the first place by bringing in the HST.
"Fourth, as Kevin Lynch, former secretary of the federal cabinet points out, Canada has a major productivity problem. Among the advanced industrialized countries, Canada ranks only 17th in productivity performance. In 2007, business productivity was 75% of that in the U.S. compared to 90% in the 1990s. A poor productivity performance is a drag on growth. Getting the tax framework right by encouraging investment in new technology and machinery is part of the answer."
^ Yeah I don't suppose it had anything to do with NAFTA being introduced around the same time...... yeah no kidding our production dropped from the 1990's..... once 1994 came along, the US just swept in and had "free" range to take advantage of our resources and businesses. NAFTA was supposed to help bring business into Canada and help benefit us.... yet since the introduction of NAFTA, we went from 90% down to 75% compared to the US.
Oh but it couldn't have anything to do with NAFTA and regardless of what caused it..... THE HST TAX WILL SAVE THE DAY!!! :roll:
"It is no surprise that the harmonized tax is controversial. It will apply to services and a broader range of goods than the provincial sales tax. However, transition payments by Ontario with significant federal financial support will for a time offset the additional cost faced by consumers. Ontario will also introduce a permanent sales credit for lower income families."
For a time..... and then you're all screwed..... not that this so-called support and transition payments will truly offset the amount of tax money they're going to grab.
This guy is so damn clueless......
Regardless, this is just this guys opinion.... much like what you post is just your opinion..... filled with hopes and assumptions that the government rebates will truly balance out what's taken from you and hopes and assumptions that companies will eventually pass their savings onto the customer.
Don't hold your breath.
.... Now.... later on, are you going to complain that your sources and "Facts" were ignored (again) and post the same tripe again to be refuted..... again?
