H.S.T.

H.S.T. (a.k.a. Harper’s Sales Tax)
There will not be H.S.T. charged on Condo fees. But, Condo fees will go up to cover the cost of increase utilities etc.

There is already G.S.T. charged on the line of our hydro bill that reads “Debt Retirement Charge”. This too will increase by 8%. Why are we paying tax on a debt we owe? Using this logic, do they plan to tax us on all our debts like, our credit card totals?

There will be a one time payout to help offset the new tax. Each family will receive $1,000.00 and each single person will receive $300.00. In my case, if my husband would not have died, we would have received $1,000 but because he died, I will receive only $300.00, which is less then one third of what we would have been entitled to. I still have the same house and the same utility bills to pay but not the same offset. It would have been better for me if the offset money had gone to each household instead of each family. There is usually only one set of utility bills per household and it’s the utility bills that will be the biggest increase for low and middle income people. I wonder if an adult living at home with their parents and paying rent will be treated as part of the family or will they get the singles amount of $300.00?

Since we are on the subject of sales tax, most people are not aware that food is rated at 0% tax. It is not tax exempt in Canada. There is a difference. This is an opening for the government to simply raise the tax on food without having to go through the bother of changing the tax status on food. See: ottawa.usembassy.gov/content/embconsul/pdfs/GSTReport08.pdf
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