An article by Fiona Anderson in the Vancouver Sun’s Business section reports the following organizations are throwing their support behind the harmonized sales tax (HST):
- BC Chamber of Commerce
- BC Construction Association
- BC Road Builders & Heavy Construction Association
- Business Council of BC
- Coast Forest Products Association
- Council of Forest Industries
- Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC
- Mining Association of BC
- Motion Picture Production Industry Association of BC
- New Car Dealers Association of BC
- Retail Council of Canada
- Telus
The article continues to list the following reasons for this positive reponse:
- it will improve productivity, boost wages, & grow the economic pie
- companies will be able to deduct the PST they pay, eliminating a 7% added direct cost to doing business
- lower costs will encourage companies to invest in new equipment & modernize operations which means new employment opportunities, higher productivity & more competitive enterprises
Those against it are:
- NO BC HST Facebook group (108,102 members)
- 85% of 720 British Columbians polled by Ipsos Reid in July
- Canadian Restaurant & Food Services Association
- Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
- BC Real Estate Association
- BC Apartment Owners & Managers Association
- BC Care Providers Association
The main reason they are against it is because “HST provides no benefit to a service-based economy.”
For more of this article, click here.
We would like to know how you feel about HST. Send us a comment! Also, we will be revealing our HST plan for homeowners who will be renovating with us in the next year with renovation end dates past July 1, 2010. Stay tuned!
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