I was a kid working in my parents family grocery store. I worked at the cash as soon as I could stand up and reach it. I remember when the PST came in. Cash registers were pretty simple: glorified calculators with paper printouts. PST was calculated by a sheet of paper that the government gave us to put at the checkout counter. When we collected the PST we threw the coins into a box to keep track. Over the years exemptions came in: prepared food, tampons, prescription meds and others. Snacks like donuts in a package and potato chips were taxed. It was a nightmare for us at the cash register to keep track. We never did get a fancy cash register and fortunately when I was in university with not enough time to work in the store, my father and mother retired and so did not have to deal with the GST. The PST went from 4% at first and ultimately settled at 8%. Good grief! Even as a teenager I was saying: just simplify things by taxing everything at a lower the rate.
A great column on a subject that doesn’t get near enough attention in Canada. Voters really need to think about how much government we want or need in our lives. More government, more costs, and therefore more taxes. With affordability being such an issue, and food bank usage exploding in Canada - I don’t understand why the parties are not looking at removing taxes on food. (The NDP “promise” to put price controls on groceries is beyond stupid for a capitalist social democracy). 5-15% of peoples food budgets is significant. I look forward to a similar column on taxes on home heating. Received my Enbridge bill today. 33% of my heating and hot water bill is taxes! (Carbon taxes + HST) Heating in a northern hemisphere country is not a luxury. The government is penalizing Canadians for eating, heating among other things. We need change! 🇨🇦 🗳️
I was a kid working in my parents family grocery store. I worked at the cash as soon as I could stand up and reach it. I remember when the PST came in. Cash registers were pretty simple: glorified calculators with paper printouts. PST was calculated by a sheet of paper that the government gave us to put at the checkout counter. When we collected the PST we threw the coins into a box to keep track. Over the years exemptions came in: prepared food, tampons, prescription meds and others. Snacks like donuts in a package and potato chips were taxed. It was a nightmare for us at the cash register to keep track. We never did get a fancy cash register and fortunately when I was in university with not enough time to work in the store, my father and mother retired and so did not have to deal with the GST. The PST went from 4% at first and ultimately settled at 8%. Good grief! Even as a teenager I was saying: just simplify things by taxing everything at a lower the rate.
A great column on a subject that doesn’t get near enough attention in Canada. Voters really need to think about how much government we want or need in our lives. More government, more costs, and therefore more taxes. With affordability being such an issue, and food bank usage exploding in Canada - I don’t understand why the parties are not looking at removing taxes on food. (The NDP “promise” to put price controls on groceries is beyond stupid for a capitalist social democracy). 5-15% of peoples food budgets is significant. I look forward to a similar column on taxes on home heating. Received my Enbridge bill today. 33% of my heating and hot water bill is taxes! (Carbon taxes + HST) Heating in a northern hemisphere country is not a luxury. The government is penalizing Canadians for eating, heating among other things. We need change! 🇨🇦 🗳️