What the HSP will mean to Ontarians

The following comes from Agent 23. Walt is signing the petition and hopes all Ontarians reading these words will unite to fight a regressive tax that punishes those who can least afford it.

Next summer the Ontario Government of Dalton McGuinty and Dwight Duncan -- pushed and cajoled by "Call Me Steve" Harper and Jim "What Recession?" Flahtery -- is set to put into force its new harmonized GST/PST. Thus a 13% sales tax will be applied to virtually everything we purchase.

Things that were not previously taxed under the current Ontario Provincial Sales Tax (PST) will be taxed at 8%. The new 13% tax will therefore apply to things like your electric bill, your gas bill, your water bill, condominium fees, insurance premiums, and every other good and service you purchase. There are almost no exemptions.

The current Ontario PST tax does not apply to services, nor does it apply to the purchase of certain goods. The new 13% tax will therefore extend the old 8% PST tax rate to the purchase of all goods and all services. You'll have to pay the new tax on your haircut!

The new HST will also apply to all purchases of all new homes. If a person were to purchase a new $1 million dollar home in Toronto, they would have to pay roughly $200,000 in taxes as a result of the Ontario land transfer tax, the new city of Toronto land transfer tax, and the new harmonized 13% GST/PST.

Think about that and what that would do to real estate values in Toronto. It will cause property values to fall and kill the new home construction industry and the jobs it creates. And it won't be long before you'll hear our elected representatives telling us that, because of the harm that has been inflicted to the new home construction industry by the new 13% tax, it would be "fair" to extend the new 13% tax to sales of existing homes.

Canadians have had two things that they have always been able to count on as being tax free - things that they could use to save money and accumulate wealth. They are your: (a) primary home; and (b) RRSP. That's it.The extension of the new 13% HST to homes is simply a tax assault by the government on your primary home. They want to tax your primary home and you will suffer because of it. Why? Because if a purchaser has to pay almost $200,000 in taxes to buy your $1 million dollar home, the purchaser is going to pay less to you for your home. The purchaser will reduce the amount he or she is willing to pay to you in order to pay all the taxes.

Your income tax will go up! The combined Federal/Ontario income tax rates are roughly 25% on the first $20,000 of taxable income, 42% on the next $40,000 of taxable income, and 46.5% on each dollar of taxable income over $60,000. On top of that you have to add the "Fair Share Health Tax" of up to $1,000 each of us has to pay.

If the Ontario Government gets away with implementing their new harmonized GST/PST sales tax of 13%, the top effective income tax rates in Ontario will be as follows (since you can't spend any of your tax paid dollars without paying the new harmonized 13% GST/PST tax): 38% on the first $20,000, 53% on the next $40,000, 59.5% on every dollar over $60,000.

On top of that, you have to pay your Ontario Fair Share Health Tax, your city realty taxes, your city garbage fees, your city water fees, your city street parking permit fees, your annual Ontario and new city of Toronto vehicle license plate fees, your Ontario land transfer tax, your new city of Toronto land transfer tax, your gasoline taxes, your liquor taxes, your air departure taxes, your entertainment taxes, and so on.

OF ALL THE MONEY YOU WORKED HARD TO EARN, WHAT PERCENTAGE ARE YOU REALLY KEEPING FOR YOUR OWN USE? 25%? 20%? 10%? ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - FIGHT BACK!

I URGE YOU TO TAKE THIS ISSUE SERIOUSLY AND TO FILL AND AND SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST THE NEW HST AT www.unfairtaxgrab.com.

When you visit the site you'll see that it's an NDP initiative. Even though the NDP has a snowball's chance of forming the next provincial government, Walt congratulates them for leading the fight against the HST. The McGuinty Liberals have proposed it, the federal Liberals are waffling, and the provincial Tories are sitting firmly on the fence. claims "no one is complaining" about his unfair tax grab. You proved him wrong this week.

Every now and then -- as in the Maid of the Mist lease story yesterday -- the voice of the people prevails! Sign the petition! Pass this post on to your friends, your family, your neighbours...everybody! Together we can stop the HST!