Todd Whitcombe
As I See It
My page six colleague, Bruce Strachan, wrote a column last week in which he predicted that the anti-HST petition would fail, while extolling the virtues of the HST as a "transparent tax."
In that column, he wrote: "The HST is a transparent tax. You'll pay it on a number of items at the cash register. But what you will not pay at the till is the hidden costs of the merchant's heat, light, power, shelves, and all the currently passed-on costs of doing business."
Wouldn't that be wonderful? All of the costs of business would magically disappear and business would be hugely profitable! And they could lower their prices to virtually zero.
I am fairly certain that this is just one of those cases where Mr. Strachan misspoke and what he was intending to say is that you will no longer be paying the costs associated with the provincial sales tax that those businesses used to pay on capital and operational expenditures.
But that, of course, doesn't make the tax transparent - it makes it unfair. It means that if I am a small business person with a vehicle that doubles as both a business vehicle and my personal mode of transport, I can write off some or all of the HST on that vehicle. Nice deal for business people.
You and I - the "working stiffs" - will still have to pay HST on our vehicles because we only drive them to and from work. Not for the company.
The same distinction would apply for heat, light, shelving, and all of the other things that the merchant purchases for their place of business.
Getting those things for your house will cost you more while business gets a break. This is supposed to be fair how?
Never fear, though, as Minister of Finance Colin Hansen assures us that: "We (the B.C. Liberals) are in fact providing a B.C. HST credit starting this July that will be paid quarterly to more than 1.1 million low and modest income British Columbians. The annual credit will be $230 per family member for families with incomes up to $25,000 and individuals
with incomes up to $20,000."
Great. Some people will be getting a rebate but not everyone. Again, how is this fair? And more to the point, it means that in addition to giving business in this province a $2-billion subsidy, the government is going to be giving rebates of a further $300 million. While maintaining an increased revenue stream.
It is not hard to figure out where that additional $2.3 billion must come from - the pockets of the remaining three million British Columbians. From you and me.
Let's be clear here. For all of its rhetoric defending the HST, this government is asking the working people of this province to shell out some $2.3 billion to subsidize our export industries. The HST is nothing more than a tax shift and a massive one at that.
As Forest Minister Pat Bell pointed out in a presentation on the HST, the HST will give our lumber industry an advantage (albeit a temporary one) in the international market place. Great idea but how is that going to result in the significant decreases in domestic prices that we are being told will come with the HST? We don't buy enough of our own wood to make a difference.
Yes, working British Columbians are going to be forking over some $700 per family member more, so that our export businesses will be more successful. Transparent? Absolutely. Every time you pay HST just remember that you are helping our export industries. That should help ease the pain of the additional costs, shouldn't it?
I am not against taxes. I know what they are for and believe that there are certain things that are for the "public good" - schools, hospitals, roads, and such. But I object to the notion that subsidizing our export industries can be defined as a "public good." And I really find offensive that we are being sold this tax as "the best thing that the government
can do for our economy at this time."
One last observation: The federal government has promised the BC Liberals $1.6 billion in funds to help transfer to the HST. Sounds good. We are getting money from the feds and that will help the province balance its book by erasing some of the massive deficit that the BC Liberals ran up.
But where did the federal government get that $1.6 billion? From you and me. It is like paying for your own birthday present - you are no further ahead. Indeed, with the HST, we are all going to be further behind.
I have said it before and I will say it again - it is the wrong tax, implemented in the wrong way, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons and this government needs to be told that over and over.
