By now you will most probably have seen the government’s stick figure advertisements for the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).
The advertisements have featured recently in the Lakes District News. (this week on page 10)
‘Decide for yourself and learn more’ is the slogan used.
Baffled stick men and women wander about in search of facts in order to make a more informed decision about the tax.
The advertisements are promoted as being explanatory ... rather than persuasive and they direct you to a website for more information.
I went to the www.hstinbc.ca website this week to check for myself what it is all about.
The website is fairly simple, besides confused stick men and women, there are a number of tabs to click on for more information.
There are also two quizzes you can take to see how well informed you are on the HST and you can compare your results to those of others who have also taken the same quiz.
I took both and although I got a couple of answers incorrect, apparently I am ‘knowledgeable about the HST.’
What I did notice from the quiz results is that a lot people who have also taken the same two quizzes are confused about what the HST applies to and what it does not.
Questions ranged from is there HST on prescription drugs or fresh fruit and vegetables, and have the price of electronics increased or decreased under the HST.
There is now also a black banner on the home page ‘promoting’ the fact that the HST is proposed to be 12 per cent in 2011, reduced to 11 per cent in 2012 and reduced further to 10 per cent in 2014.
I am left to wonder what happens in 2013?
Why do we have to wait two years for the final one per cent decrease?
Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad explained the one year gap.
He said there simply isn’t any room in the budget to drop the last one per cent in 2013.
According to Rustad it costs the government $850 million to drop a percentage point and in order to balance the 2013-2014 budget there had to be a one year gap applied.
Rustad said the government is still recovering from the economic downturn.
On the website there are pages and pages of information to read that will probably leave most people with a feeling of information overload.
Of course all this ‘non promotional’ promotion of the HST is leading up the referendum this summer which will ask ‘Are you in favour of extinguishing the HST and reinstating the PST (Provincial Sales Tax) in conjunction with the GST (Goods and Services Tax)?’
And you will be expected to answer either yes or no.
Something that I found on the website that people may find particularly helpful is the what has more tax, what has less tax, and what stays the same tabs.
Here you will find detailed lists of HST exempt and inclusive everyday items.
All in all ... I found the website to be pretty helpful.
In my personal opinion however I felt a definite push towards a ‘vote for the HST’ message on the website, but I guess that is to be expected ... isn’t it?