The Pain Of It All

There goes that Liberal government that Ontario voted into power, proving once again that the word of our Premier is not to be taken lightly. Premier McGuinty has yet another treat in store for taxpayers. Oh, this is not another tax grab posing as something else, it's a tax relief for business, and will, in the process, surprise a whole lot of consumers in its implementation. We'll end up feeling stung yet again.

But rest assured, it's for our own good. Tax experts and business leaders have been shouting for a long, long time that Ontario's business tax isn't conducive to luring investment to this province. And this province is suffering mightily as a result of manufacturing slipping away at an alarming rate, raising our unemployment rate to uncomfortable levels.

That's quite the combination, a lapsing manufacturing sector and a feebling economy, becoming more feverish as time elapses. So, pushed to do something, even if it is at the wrong time, the government of Ontario is finally assenting to blending the provincial sales tax with the federal tax on sales and services. The harmonizing of both taxes won't change too much, since 5% plus 8% still add up to 13%.

But there's a sneaky element there, that because of harmonization, consumables that were not provincially taxed heretofore, now will be. That's where the consumer pain comes in, even while business stands to gain, and through that gain, so too will the consumer - if business passes on its savings.

And to sweeten consumers' distemper over this alteration in tax-collection the province has decided to 'return' money to the taxpayer to wean them onto this major tax reform. Families earning under $160,000 a year will see 'refunds' up to $1,000 a year, coming to them in three installments over the course of the year. Refunds for earners of $160,000? Bloody hell!

Well, that thousand in refund will go to the $160,000 annually-salaried families, substantially less to individuals earning up to $80,000 - they'll receive something like a total of $300. Doesn't make sense? Should it? Throw a fit, complain. See if that does any good.