Charlie Smith, October 26, 2010 Straight.com
The federal NDP has found a new reason to condemn the harmonized sales tax—just a day after B.C. premier Gordon Campbell appointed a parliamentary secretary (John Les) to tout the benefits of a merged federal and provincial sales tax. In a news release issued this morning, Ontario NDP MP Malcolm Allen pointed out that the supplier of poppies to the Royal Canadian Legion in his province must charge the HST. “By charging 13 percent HST [in Ontario] on the purchase of poppies, the federal government is inadvertently hurting veterans and their families,” Allen said in the news release. “This tax robs legions of an extra 13 percent of their costs in purchasing the bulk poppies, which will come out of the millions of dollars donated by Canadians when they buy poppies every year for Remembrance Day.”
In B.C., consumers pay a 12 percent HST. Allen has introduced a private member's bill to exempt the GST on poppies and wreaths bought to benefit veterans. His bill would also permit legions to recoup the five percent federal portion of the HST.
The federal NDP has found a new reason to condemn the harmonized sales tax—just a day after B.C. premier Gordon Campbell appointed a parliamentary secretary (John Les) to tout the benefits of a merged federal and provincial sales tax. In a news release issued this morning, Ontario NDP MP Malcolm Allen pointed out that the supplier of poppies to the Royal Canadian Legion in his province must charge the HST. “By charging 13 percent HST [in Ontario] on the purchase of poppies, the federal government is inadvertently hurting veterans and their families,” Allen said in the news release. “This tax robs legions of an extra 13 percent of their costs in purchasing the bulk poppies, which will come out of the millions of dollars donated by Canadians when they buy poppies every year for Remembrance Day.”
In B.C., consumers pay a 12 percent HST. Allen has introduced a private member's bill to exempt the GST on poppies and wreaths bought to benefit veterans. His bill would also permit legions to recoup the five percent federal portion of the HST.
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