REPORT FROM THE LEGISLATURE

2009, August 25

“HARMONIZED SALES TAX (HST)”

Over the past week we have been hearing a great deal about the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) and the fact that the NDP in Manitoba is considering combining our Provincial Sales Tax (PST) with the existing Goods and Services Tax (GST). If the NDP decide to harmonize these sales taxes, rest assured that you, the Manitoba taxpayer will be paying more taxes. The GST applies to a wider range of goods and services, so with the HST you will be paying more for gasoline and groceries, and for new homes. The increased revenue from the HST will result in an additional $400 Million as a minimum to the Province – all taken out of your pocket, the pocket of the Manitoba taxpayer. Even your Hydro bill will go up as a result of the HST. Currently if your primary source of heat for your home is from electricity, then you are charged a reduced rate of 1.5% for PST on the Hydro bill, and 5% GST on that same bill for a total of 6.5%. With a Harmonized Sales Tax, you will be charged 12%, nearly double your current taxes on that same Hydro bill. Since most rural Manitobans heat their homes with electricity, it follows that harmonization will likely affect rural Manitobans the most – another tax on rural Manitobans!

In 1999, during the Provincial election campaign, Gary Doer proudly proclaimed that “he was not elected to raise taxes”. In the meantime we have seen the scope of the Provincial Sales Tax increase dramatically. You now pay PST on electrical and mechanical contracts, on legal fees, on accounting fees, on engineering fees and on architectural fees, but to name a few. A new HST will now be applied to Real Estate fees. In the meantime, we have seen Pharmacare deductibles rise by 5% per year nearly every year since Gary Doer was elected, and now the chronically ill, and most of whom are on fixed incomes, pay dramatically more for their prescription drugs than ever before. These are just but a few examples of increased taxes which you as Manitobans have been forced to pay by the NDP.