Complain about the HST here.

[Bonam]

Woah, woah, it isn't that big of a change. Most of the things that people will be buying in the US (other than gas...and in BC, gas is exempt) were already subject to GST and PST....there's really no change for consumer items like you're talking about.

Well maybe you should tell them if that's true, I don't shop across the border.

Actually the difference is that according to a Washington state law, residents of jurisdictions which do not have a regional sales tax are exempt from paying the sales tax in Washington state. This law was implemented because Oregon has no sales tax as a way to attract shoppers from Oregon. Due to a technicality, the Washington state law considers BC's HST a "value added tax" rather than a sales tax and thus, technically, BC shoppers would be exempt from paying sales tax in Washington state, whereas previously they had not been. That means that BC shoppers basically all were to get a tax break across the border that they previously had not had.

This was the reason for the massive traffic on July 1st.

However, on July 1st, a Washington state judge ruled that the sales tax exemption will temporarily not apply to BC shoppers, based on concerns from Bellingham and other border areas of Washington state, which obtain much of their tax revenues from BC shoppers. As a result, the people waiting in those border lineups on July 1st wasted their time.

In Olympia's next legislative session, it will be decided whether to officially change the state law to specifically prevent it from applying to BC shoppers. Meanwhile, the temporary ruling of the state judge will prevent BC shoppers from getting the tax exemption.

I've been following this story pretty closely since I'm a BC resident currently living in Washington state and if the exemption had not been overturned by that judge I'd basically never pay sales tax on my purchases while living here, which would have been awesome.

Edited July 4, 2010 by Bonam

[capricorn]

Premier Dalton McGuinty says he's such a believer in the HST, his family waited until July 1 to gas up.

Instead of taking advantage of cheaper gas prices the night before, McGuinty says his wife filled up on Thursday when prices jumped eight per cent.

"I think that Terri waited the next day," he said with a laugh. "I don't think she rushed off to the pumps."

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100703/hst_gas_pumps_100703/20100703?hub=TorontoNewHome

That McSlippery laughs at the darndest things.

[Smallc]

An excellent article, from today's Winnipeg Free Press (well, except for the mistake about which provinces don't have the HST).

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/publics-hst-phobia-needless-97787824.html

[dragonlady]

This new tax will not help the economy!

Why would any business person lower what they charge, just because of a combined tax? The tax does not put dollars back into the business persons pocket. Even if it did, a small business owner needs the additional income to cover their personal expenses, and larger businesses need it to increase dividends to shareholders or they would use the money in other ways rather than hiring more staff!

As a consumer, this tax is going to add $50 per month to my already strained budget. What it means to me, is that I will be spending LESS! and doing more things my self eg home repairs.

This HST is just a tax grab by an inefficient and self serving administration!

[madmax]

The HST will create jobs.

Harper and McGuinty say so.

[capricorn]

We’ll bet you didn’t know that as of July 1, the cost of everything from pharmaceuticals to glues, syringes to camping fuel, household caulking to fluorescent light bulbs to fire extinguishers and on and on went up, anywhere from a few cents to a few bucks.

It’s a second wave of “eco fees” that started in 2008 on things like paints, batteries and pesticides.

The government says eco fees are not taxes.

http://www.torontosun.com/comment/editorial/2010/07/06/14628816.html

The Ontario Liberals will tell you that the eco fees collected do not go into the Treasury. What they will not tell you is that these eco fees are subject to the HST. Look at the cash register receipt in the following article.

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/833510--new-eco-fees-catching-consumers-by-surprise#article

Palmolive soap $1.99, $0.13 eco fee, then HST added to the total bill.

Scroll down on the linked page below to the last paragraph titled Stewards Fees. The link in that paragraph will take you to a PDF file which lists the thousands of items that are now subject to the eco tax and the amount of new tax we will pay for each item. Of course, HST will added to many of those items.

http://www.stewardshipontario.ca/consumers/what-we-do/mhswenvironmental-fees?path[nid]=2

The Opposition says they were unaware of this newest tax grab. It was approved by Cabinet and never made it to the Order Paper in the Legislature.

McGuinty and his gang continue their lying, deceiving ways. The sheeple will probably forgive them as they always do and return them to power.