In a recent Leader article, Surrey Board of Trade CEO Anita Huberman was quoted as saying, “we support the HST and that it is good for business.”
The SBOT asked businesses what impact the HST has had on them and apparently 62.6 per cent said it was as they thought it would be. But these businesses never said what they “thought it would be” and only 25.2 per cent said the effect has been better.
That doesn’t seem to be a strong endorsement for keeping the HST.
Also in the news item, it was disclosed that “three out of four respondents to the survey thought the negative reaction to the HST was a result of how it was implemented.” Or is it that these businesses haven’t passed on any savings to the consumer? It would be to very easy for these businesses to keep the HST and add it to their bottom line as a profit as they now can write off the HST as an expense.
The board also states it does not want to see the tax lowered from its current 12 per cent: “We do not support a reduction in the rate of the HST… that’s not good for the economy, not good for business.”
With fewer and fewer people now going out to spend less of their discretionary income, how can that be good for the economy and business?
We’ve been hit with the province’s carbon tax, higher costs for fuel, higher costs for food, and higher costs for services. Major industries receive carbon credits and HST credits, and can write off other expenses as well, but what about the pensioner on a pensioner’s income or the single parent on low income who are unable to write off anything?
I challenge Ms. Huberman to give a few examples of how the HST is helping the small businesses, ie. shops, small grocery stores, bicycle repair shops, or licensed restaurants which have been hit with a double whammy with the new drinking and driving penalties.
David Hammer, Surrey
