Last year I asked a friend who runs a small business what effect the HST had on his company. He gleefully told me that it increased his bottom line by about $5,000.
When I asked if he planned to pass some of these savings on to his customers, he looked at me like I was deranged. No, he planned to keep the profit for himself.
The recent Dinning report (independent panel on the HST) assumes that “90 per cent of business’ HST rebates are passed on to the consumer.” This appears to be wishful thinking.
They also state “17 per cent of your spending has an extra seven per cent sales tax.” whereas the other 83 per cent is unchanged. How is this good?
I’ll be voting to get rid of the HST.
Roel Hurkens
Victoria
