Hello, Ontario, this is very long-winded, but I feel it is absolutely crucial that, if you are a resident of Ontario, you read this carefully.
This new Harmonized Sales Tax which will be introduced in July, 2010, is not getting any coverage in newspapers or on television and I am not sure why. It is going to be the biggest and most unfair tax increase in the history of Ontario. It's as if the government doesn't want to inform us of the facts. I have been investigating and I would like to share my findings.
Ontario has two Government taxes, Provincial Retail Sales Tax at 8%, and Federal Goods and Services Tax, at 5%.
The Harmonized Sales Tax will be administered by the Federal Government, based on the G.S.T., which means that if G.S.T. is currently collected, at 5%, the tax is going to be increased to 13%. That seems fine, as Ontario's Provincial Retail Sales Tax, which will be discontinued, is 8%. Add the two together and things still seem fine, still 13%.
One BIG problem. Retail Sales Tax is not collected on everything that is taxed as "Goods and Services". The key word here is "Services". Retail Sales Tax is not collected on services. What is going to increase?
Here is a small list of services currently taxed at 5% that will be going up to 13%.
Natural Gas bill
Internet bill
Water bill
Gas at the pumps - That is about 6 cents per L. (That is a tax on top of a tax)
Electricity bill - This is a good one. If you look at your electricity bill, there is an amount on it for debt retirement. This is forcing us to pay for the huge debt the old Ontario Hydro utility ran up. Only in Ontario would we pay tax on a debt, and only in Ontario would the government increase this tax.
The current tax rate on transient accommodation, such as hotel rooms, is currently 5%. Under the new tax, the provincial portion would increase to 8%.
Building supplies used in the construction of new homes.
Hairdresser.
Massage therapist.
Bookkeeper.
Chiropractor.
Physiotherapist.
Anything that requires labour around your house - plumber, electrician, painting, grass cutting ext.
This is just a small list as there is so much, much more.
Let's talk about small business for a minute.
Mr. McGuinty tells us in the budget that this new tax is going to save small businesses $500 million. If you are in business in Ontario, you will know about the rebate on your Retail Sales Tax return. This is when you get to keep 5% of the tax collected up to $1,500.00 per year to help with your administration costs. That will no longer be the case. Guess what? You will not have to bother filling out your rebate forms any more, because there won't be a rebate to claim!
Yipeee! This new tax only helps large corporations with multiple vendor permit numbers, not small businesses. As an example, the government aims to reduce the Corporate Income Tax rate, currently 14%, to 10% over three years.
Two areas where we WERE going to see an advantage to this tax have been changed. There is no G.S.T. on used cars if bought privately and provincial tax on alcohol is between 10% to 12%. That is 2% to 4% higher than our normal Retail Sales Tax. So, a drop of 1 or 2%.
BUT, good old McGuinty took care of that very quickly. He is now saying that to make it fair between used car lots, Retail Sales Tax is still to be collected on used cars.
And get ready for this one. He is going to add a levy on alcohol to promote social responsibility. This man is using the words "social responsibility" at the same time as he is raising our taxes, which he promised not to do. This means, that as well as the usual alcohol tax and the G.S.T., yet another tax is going to be added to everything alcoholic that you buy.
To supposedly offset the cost of this new and unfair tax, the McGuinty government is giving a Tax Transition Benefit to the people of Ontario. This means that.....
A single person with no children and income of up to $80,000 would receive a benefit of $100 in each of June 2010, December 2010 and June 2011.
(WOW!! $300!!)The maximum benefit would be reduced by five per cent of income over $80,000, so a single person with income of $81,000, for example, would receive three benefits of $50 each.
(Ooops. Sorry, that extra $1,000 means we are cutting your benefit by 50%!)Single people with income over $82,000 would not receive a benefit.
(Ooops. Sorry, that extra $2,000 means you have far too much money for us to give you anything!)A family with income of up to $160,000 would receive three benefits: $330 in June 2010, $335 in December 2010 and $335 in June 2011.
The maximum benefits would be reduced by five per cent of family income over $160,000, so a family with income of $163,000, for example, would receive one benefit payment of $180 and two benefit payments of $185 each. (See above for comments!)
Families with income over $166,700 ($166,600 for the June 2010 benefit) would not receive a benefit. (See above for comments!)
I have added a few links at the bottom if you would like to respond to this threat. The first one is to sign the petition against this tax. The second is to McGuinty if you would like to talk to him about being socially responsible. There are a few others but the bottom one is the best. It is the salary disclosure for 2008. The people of Ontario are paying Dalton McGuinty $207,000.00 per year to lie to us.
Stand up, Ontario, and tell him we cannot afford any more McGuinty politics.
No more new taxes!!.
Please sign the petition.
Thanks
[link] - Petition.
[link] - Dalton Mcguinty.
[link] - Any questions to the
Provincial Government.
[link] - Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance.
[link] - The Ontario Liberal Party.
[link] - The PC Party of Ontario.
[link] - Salary Disclosure.
MY STAMP COLLECTION.
My Clubs
Attention, all Ontarians!! 
dA Love
, so here is a super collection of Spring images for you to celebrate this wonderful season.
Beautiful gallery! 
