“Modern” sales tax to help Ontario business
Ontario Minister of Revenue John Wilkinson spoke at a Mississauga Board of Trade event on the impending Harmonized Sales Tax (Bill 218), which was successfully passed by the legislature following its third reading yesterday.
“There are two things people absolutely hate – taxes and change,” he joked as he began his address, first discussing the changed economic climate that has created a new environment for doing business and the need to modernize the Canadian tax system to follow suit.
“With the new HST tax, we’re going to assist people where we tax the consumption of wealth more, and we tax the creation of wealth less… that’s what progressive modern economies do in the 21st century.”
Canada and the United States are the only two developed countries in the world that do not do that. But Canada is changing in order to give business a competitive advantage. According to Minister Wilkinson, HST will make our products priced more competitively both on the world stage and here in Canada, an important consideration as Canadian businesses re-examine their focus on trade with the United States.
Minister Wilkinson also spoke of upcoming tax cuts being introduced in 2010 for both capital and small business tax. All good news for business.
Check out the Ontario Ministry of Revenue website for more information:
www.rev.gov.on.ca/en/index.html
Lisa Kember
