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Posted on August 1, 2009 - by J Lane

Proposed HST in BC – reprise

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The BC Government’s proposed HST will, no doubt, devastate a number of businesses and industries in BC.  The most telling indicator I read was an interview with a restaurant in Kelowna, BC saying that after the introduction of the GST, their business dropped 10%.  That was a 7% tax, this is a 12% tax (or if you will, an increase of 7%).  Best case scenario is that they can expect the same thing, another 10% drop in business during a recession when sales are already off in tourism and hospitality.

After my last post went over pretty well, I thought I’d write a quick follow up post on what you actually can do in opposition to the HST.  While it’s probably a complete waste of time writing to your MLA, send them an e-mail anyhow because if they start getting flooded with messages, they might put two and two together and realize that the HST may be impacting their chances of re-election.

That aside, there’s a couple of other routes you can go to make your voice heard:

  1. Facebook is providing a home to a number of groups opposing the HST.  The largest has over 10,000 members.  Go join.  The first group I got involved with has over 400 members (don’t know how many overlap).  Personally, I’m going to try to stay active in both.
  2. Former Premier Bill Vander Zalm is coming out of retirement to lead the charge in opposition to this issue.  I’ve only lived in BC for a couple of years now, but honestly, Vander Zalm seems to have his head on straight and knows what he’s talking about.  He’s building a list of people interested in the cause.  To join, drop an e-mail to chris@chrisdelaney.com (I think this is our best bet so far)
  3. The BC NDP has started a petition to stop the HST.  Sign it, even if you don’t support/didn’t vote for the NDP.  This is an issue that affects us all, forget your party loyalties for a moment.

British Columbians should feel betrayed by the Campbell Government.  They are on the record as having said “there will be no HST” prior to the election.  This tax will affect us all.  It is not a matter of just combining the PST and the GST and nothing else will change.  There is more to it than that, get informed and make your voice heard.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 1st, 2009 at 9:43 pm and is filed under Featured Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

10 Comments

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  1. Visit My Website

    August 5, 2009

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    KJ said:


    This whole idea of taxing residents of BC out the wahzoo is getting bloody ridiculous. How about those wealthy polititians who get paid for sitting on their duff all day taking a pay cut huh? Oh no never, they need that 6 figure income to live the high life while those of us considered low income folks (I make around $30K/year annually/gross pay and I receive the quarterly rebates too because Gordon and his cronies say I’m low income by the way according to tax laws/income etc) work our butts off just to pay for food, a roof over our head and sometimes have to resort to getting a credit card to just get by. Which I have and I pay a quarter of my monthly salary to have the convenience to use it when I don’t have enough cash to have things others have, like proper food and clothing and such, including entertainment etc. Nonetheless I digress enough taxing the public, get the Liberals out of the government and bring back some sensible people, though are any politicians “sensible???”

    Quit taking our money,food etc out of our pockets!!!



  2. Visit My Website

    August 7, 2009

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    Nicole Desharnais said:


    How dare you lie to us Gordon Campell! We are taxed enough! We are falling financially as it is. No thanks to the HST.



  3. Visit My Website

    August 7, 2009

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    J Lane said:


    Money definitely seems to be a topic that people get passionate about. It sticks out in my mind that the Conservative Government was “brought down” by the GST. They implemented it, and then lost the next election in a huge way (lost official party status).



  4. Visit My Website

    August 10, 2009

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    David Dlugos said:


    I don’t see a real downside to this change… as a very small business, i will get back all the PST i am now paying and is too much work to claim back, as well as all the PST that i am not currently paying that i just have to eat and pass on as a cost-of-goods.

    Also, it will streamline accounting, only 1 submission instead of 2, entering 1 tax instead of 2 into the books. As a small business strapped for time to get everything that needs doing done, this will help.

    Philisophically i am also in favour of sales side taxes instead of income taxes… but i don’t expect to see that fully implemented for a while — too many accountants and lawyers would be out of work.

    dave



  5. Visit My Website

    August 10, 2009

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    J Lane said:


    @dave

    Agreed. Philosophically I also favour a sales tax over an income tax, but there was no announcement of a reduction in income tax to offset, was there? :-)

    As a small business owner also, I’m not currently required to collect PST (web development). It’s still not clear to me whether that’s going to change or not with the HST (do I qualify as a professional service?)

    My main concern in this area will be the 7% increase in price that my clients may have to pay. The implication by the government that I’m currently hiding the PST in my rate is simply not true; I’ve never factored a provincial tax into what I charge clients. So, do I bill clients an additional 7% (and risk losing business), or do I cut my rate and absorb the tax myself?

    There are so many unanswered questions as well. Do I charge out-of-province clients the HST, or just the GST? Now that the HST is being administered federally, it’s not clear to me.



  6. Visit My Website

    August 11, 2009

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    kim churchill said:


    When this hst comes in, I guarantee I will never buy another piece of clothing for my children in BC ever again. They are big kids and have not worn childrens size clothing in years. I will shop in the USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good job liberals – now chasing us consumers out of the country to shop – way to go Campbell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



  7. Visit My Website

    August 23, 2009

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    Scott Bennett said:


    I run a small recording studio in Sooke, and there is simply no way I am going to collect, or account for it in any way.

    Obviously I am going to pay more for my supplies, but I guess I am just going to have to eat that cost.

    Remember when the government was all worried about underground economies and bartering? Well this new HST thing is going to create criminals of all (very) small businesses.

    I’m going to continue doing jobs for weed which seems to be the only good currency around here.

    Screw those assholes.



  8. Visit My Website

    August 28, 2009

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    cheryl baron said:


    Fighthst.com has a website where you can register to help Mr. Vander Zalm and his people collect signatures for the Citizens’ Initiative to oppose the HST. Also, don’t forget to attend the rally in Vancouver on Sept. 19 at noon at Canada Place. There are plans for rallies in other cities and towns the same day. If you’re not in Vancouver, email info@fighthst.com and they will tell you if there is a rally in your area.