There were a lot of firms that made purchases this year to get the benefits of the HST. As a result there will be a decline in purchases like new equipment etc; in 2013/14. This decline will of course be blamed on the NDP rather than the effort to avoid the PST.

The increase in purchases in 2012 and the first 3 months of 2013 will of course be attributed to good Government management by the Liberals.

A conservative estimate shows that I will save approx. $800.00 per year. I am far from being a big spender, so those that spend more will of course save more.

People need to be aware of what they were paying under the HST and what they will no longer pay going back to the PST. Most are not.

For dog owners as an example, there will be significant savings in veterinarian fee’s as just one example. Real estate commissions are another that will have significant savings for home purchasers.

Have a nice day.

Watch the NDP jack up the PST to make up for the loss of the HST

Although I don’t have any statistics to back up my perceptions that business decreased during the HST period, my husband and 2 daughters all own their own businesses in Prince George. All 3 believe that they have lost customers due to the HST and are welcoming its end.

I’ll guess that restaurants are happy its gone.

I think that what most British Columbians found so objectionable about the HST is how the Liberals promised no HST and then instituted it anyway after getting elected.

I don’t think so, Stonekicker. They may be Naturally Dumb People, but they’re not that dumb. We’re missing a golden opportunity with the election looming. Let’s see which one of those who’d govern us will commit themselves to lowering PST to 5% after they take office. It was at that rate all the years WAC Bennett governed BC, and we might want to remember that it was the “Tax Cuts Work” BC Liberals under Gordon Campbell that had it up to 7.5% early in their first term of office. Tax cuts DO work ~ but they have to be a meaningful cut that benefits BC consumers, who are the real economic engine that drives BC prosperity. And a reducing of the PST rate to 5%, aside from the ease of calculation that would create in conjunction with the GST at the same rate, would effectively boost BC consumers’ purchasing power by 2% ~ more than some of the pay raises many workers have had in recent years.

We noticed the same thing in our business, HAS. The HST hurt sales, people who formerly would employ a building contractor to build a fence, or a sundeck, etc., or even in some cases, a house reno or new house, couldn’t afford to pay another 7% on his labour. So his jobs fell off, and this reflected on the volume of lumber he purchased from our lumber yard. One contractor, a good, steady customer, lost about 2/3 of the volume of work he’d normally do because of it. He was previously a strong BC Liberal supporter. Now he’d vote for anything other than that group, even the NDP if necessary, just to get that mob out. The actual advantages of the HST to businesses are really quite miniscule compared to what many of us lost in sales.

Again some people are not clear on the fact that the HST did NOT add revenue to the govt coffers, it simply got it from a different source, us. Therefore, stonekicker, there is NO revenue to make up. Capiche? All I know is that before HST when I looked at a receipt I was annoyed by he tax on the purchase, but after HST I was disgusted that every purchase, whether large or small, had a much larger tax bite than before.

Bottom line is, some purchases are going to be 5% less that with HST. None are going up. How can that NOT be a good thing for consumers?

I went out for my happy meal as promised yesterday and the base price was the same as the last days in March. Was it ever tasty. And I checked the recipt and NO HST was on it. Was that ever nice. It was afterall what WE THE TAXPAYERS voted for not once but two times. I will now patronize restaurants in BC again. Something I boycotted beginning July 1, 2010.

Mattyc, do you seriously think that we believe you when you state that you have never patronized a single restaurant in BC during the time that the HST was in place? You think that we believe you when you say that in all of this time, you never once enjoyed your tasty happy meal? Give me a freaking break!

I simply can’t believe that in all of your many, many trips to Alberta to avoid the HST, you never once stopped for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even a coffee??

Again, give me a freaking break!!

Some support the HST, some are opposed to it and still others are absolutely ridiculous! Nuff said!

But: “Bottom line is, some purchases are going to be 5% less that with HST. None are going up. How can that NOT be a good thing for consumers?”

Because it’s not all about what you see on the tax section of your receipt. The PST/GST is more expensive to administrate and those costs will be passed onto you and me. They’ll just be hidden, and you probably won’t notice them.

From the CBC story:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/04/01/bc-hst-tax-farewell.html?cmp=rss

“The switch back is costing taxpayers as well. The reinstatement of PST and GST is costing the provincial government $3 billion, of which $1.6 billion is a payment from Ottawa that now needs to be refunded.”

welll My Timmy’s was cheaper this morning compared to yesterday…:) Like almost a dime.. ok Can Starbucks match that??

I fixed that for you…..

“The switch back is costing taxpayers as well. The reinstatement of PST and GST is costing the provincial government $3 billion, of which $1.6 billion (was a gift) from Ottawa that now needs to be refunded.”

Returning a gift doesn’t cost anyone anything. Well…..except maybe a money transfer fee.

“The PST/GST is more expensive to administrate and those costs will be passed onto you and me. They’ll just be hidden, and you probably won’t notice them”

Did anyone notice a drop in prices when the HST was rammed down their throats? No they didn’t because there were none.

The HST was nothing more than tax burden shift from business to the consumer.

That’s what the Liberals are all about…helping their business friends.

Drasgonmaster, I’m curious. You state that the Liberals are all about…helping their business friends. While that may or may not be true and to what degree we aren’t sure, at the same time it seems like the NDP are all about helping the Unions.

So, if the Liberals are all helping their business friends and the NDP are helping their Union friends, where does that leave the rest of us???

Not surprised that you had a happy meal, as your posts were always somewhat childish it stands to reason that you would get something off the kids menu:P Get a toy too?

Never did answer the question if you are going to pay the back taxes owing on your under the table income.

=====================================

knock knock

who’s there?

CRA

CRA who?

C(RA) ya in a couple of years if you don’t pay the tax you owe.

Hartguy .. I like your style … “the NDP are all about helping the Unions”
… well the Unions are about helping the Blue collar person … the little guy … the end consumer… the majority of this province, the average Joe … Namely Me!

Thanks … with your help I just figured out who I am voting for… and it is not the Liberals

bowzone: “Thanks … with your help I just figured out who I am voting for… and it is not the Liberals “

You say that as if your mind wasn’t made up already. Nice try.

Well hart guy I don’t know how you can say the NDP are all about helping the unions? They haven’t been in office for the past decade.
I’d suggest more so that the NDP are the party for and of the people.

You do realize that the unions are a group of people like your neighbors and family members that make up an organization called a “union” whose goal is to make a better standard of living for themselves. Without the group standing up against them as one, they would all be standing in line crying ” please sir can I have some more?’

Unions are not some alien invaders from another planet like you and your liberal ilk make them out to be.

Sorry to be the one to tell you Dragonmaster, but Unions long ago stopped being about their members. Unions have become nothing more than the big business that they condemn. Unions couldn’t care less about the public’s ability to pay for their demands. Unions are only concerned about one thing and that one thing is increasing membership so that it can collect more membership dues! That’s it! That’s all!

Long ago Unions served a purpose but in today’s day and age, they are becoming more and more irrelevant. I belonged to a union many years ago and I couldn’t believe how inefficient and lazy some of my coworkers were. I left the union and went to work where my extra efforts would be recognized. My brother got hired on by a Unionized company and he ended up quitting after he was repeatedly chastised for working too quickly. Seems that he was doing a 5 day job in only 3 days, or a 2 day job in less than 1 day. His shop steward told him that he had to slow down because he was making more senior employees look bad. Perhaps the company should have kept him and canned a few of the more senior workers who worked at the minimally acceptable pace. But that can’t happen, because of the Union. We see and hear about inefficient irresponsible workers who finally do get canned and then the Union steps in and appeals the termination. Guess that’s the only thing that they have left to do that can justify their existence. All too often, the company finally gives in or gives up and is forced to keep a “dud” employee. Nothing like dumbing down the workforce!

Our public sector wages and benefits are completely out of line! The number of public sector workers has also increased at a ridiculous pace! I remember reading a report not that long ago that talked about the growth in the employment numbers in Ontario. At least I think it was Ontario. Regardless, it turns out that the vast majority of the increase in the job numbers was a result of the increase in public sector. How do this help grow an economy?

When the NDP gets in, they will be expected to reward Big Labour in BC. Afer all, isn’t Jim Siclair the man in charge of the NDP. The rest of us will just pay more taxes to support already over-compensated workers. Our current BCTF President Susan Lambert is already on record as saying that there needs to be an increase in the Education Budget, even if it means a tax increase!

I’m not at all happy with what the Liberals have been doing, but I can honestly say that I’m definitely in fear of what the NDP will do. Right now, the NDP still isn’t even willing to say what they will do and how they will pay for it. Now that’s a real confidence booster, isn’t it!

I don’t really care about the impact of removing the HST…we will survive just fine.
I also don’t care about the businesses who were supposedly going to pass on the savings to their customers.
Very few did,so just suck it up sunshine!
What I do care about is a bunch of overpaid and underworked liars who conned the public into trusting…lied.
They just plain lied to B.C. and it wasn’t just Gordon Campbell doing the lying.
There was and is a lot if liars in the B.C.Liberal party and they will pay for that.
Perhaps you know some B.C.Liberal liars.
I do,and I will be parked in front of the tube on election night with good single malt scotch watching them pay the price for misleading the people of B.C.
I didn’t always have this bad attitude towards the B.C.Liberals…they gave it to me…they worked very hard at it, in fact.

Gonna repeat yer scenario as above) in a few years when it comes to turfing out the Dippers? Get back to us on this. You’re welcome.

I’ll do just that Harbinger!
Actually,I don’t expect much from the NDP so I won’t be too disappointed.
It sure as hell won’t be any worse than what we have gone through with the lying B.C.Liberals.

Oh please spare us. Can the lifetime NDP supporters stop pretending they have been anything but?

JohnnyBelt. Time you woke up and smelled the roses.

Its not the lifetime NDP supporters that will elect the NDP It will be ex Liberal supporters who were screwed by Campbell and his cohorts..

People are totally disgusted with the Liberals and all the shenanigans they pulled off while in power, and are just waiting for a third party to vote for. If they don’t get a third party then I suspect many of them wont vote at all,. Either way it does not bode well for the Liberals. They made their bed and now they can sleep in it. I suspect it will be a long sleep.

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the end of the Liberal Party in BC.

For example….where do you think guys like Alex G. Tsukamoose (ya I know) get their information ? From disgruntled Liberal insiders blowing up their own party.

I predict Moe Sihota coming out of the woodwork soon.

Yikes! That’s about as smart as bringing Campbell back.

Regardless of which tax regime is in place. That really is a non issue because like it or not you have to pay tax to sustain the standard of living that we have. The main issue here is the HST was forced in without democratic process or public consultation. Any political party facing fiscal constraint will cook the books at the expense of the tax payer, not just the liberals. That’s because politicians only know how to play politics. They don’t know how to roll up their sleeves and get a job done and are not held accountable for the job they do. As long people seem politics to solve problems there should be no surprise when you get political results!

Oops!
Apparently there is now a serious divide in the B.C.Liberal party, according to Global News and Keith Baldrey last night.
A new faction of B.C.Liberal politicans(backbenchers?) have emerged and they want to put the party in damage control for after the electon…which they are pretty sure they are going to lose.
They want to rebuild and they do not want Clark or Rich Coleman(da Godfather)anywhere near it.
Or either of them as party leader.
The other faction is controlled by Clark and …wait for it…Rich Coleman…who still insist they will win the election.(now that is just weird)
Hands up all those who didn’t know Coleman was Clark’s boss and the big kahuna in the B.C.Liberal party?
Pretty sure Clark and Coleman will come out of caucus in a day or two and tell us that it is all better now…everyone is once again shiny happy people and all pulling together.
How does a political party do this to themselves right before an election?
How is Clark managing to survive the crap going on behind the scenes?
Boggles the mind!

She survives the same way Gordo did, Andy. Because they’re a group so bereft of talent that there’s nobody else to replace her as the principal ‘public’ face of that Party. It’s not a whole lot different with the other Parties, and it’s one of the things that’s wrong with the whole ‘Party’ set-up the way it’s evolved. You could see it clearly when Gordo got nailed for drunk driving on Maui and there was uncertainty whether or not he should resign. They had no one who was ready to replace him ~ their whole focus in getting elected was ‘follow the leader’. Not much different from North Korea, when it comes right down to it.

Palopu: “JohnnyBelt. Time you woke up and smelled the roses.”

Is that your favorite phrase or something?

“In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the end of the Liberal Party in BC.”

And if that happens, they’ll be replaced by a party with a different name. Happens in politics all the time. Actually Palopu, your record of predictions is very poor, so I won’t put too much stock in what you say.

I agree socredible…the political party system favours the politicans and it allows them to consolidate their power base for more control.
It is a badly outdated format and responsible for much of the mess provincial and federal politics are in.
It also muzzels the peons on the back benches who are not allowed to stand up for their constiuents.
They spend their political lives sitting in the shadows with their mouths shut…like it or not.
That’s too bad,because sometimes there are some good ones who never get a shot.
The old game of swallow the leader…sit back there and agree with your leader…or else!