# BC votes to scrap HST



## roadrunner (Apr 25, 2010)

it will take from 18-24months to take an effect….


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## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

sigh...now that the hst will be gone gone more people will wait to buy homes for the next year which will slow down the housing market. This will effect our company.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

thats good i guess i'll wait till then to buy a new place


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## roadrunner (Apr 25, 2010)

i just wonder where bc will get $1.6-billion to repay Ottawa. Guess who will be responsible for it? Us, taxpayers!!!


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## NewGuy (Apr 22, 2010)

Well a possibility I heard will be that the Liberals will call an election and make the proper reintroduction of the HST as a election issue. The HST is getting more traction afterall as people learn about it. 6 months ago the spread would have been 80-20.


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## CCBettas (Jul 6, 2010)

NewGuy said:


> Well a possibility I heard will be that the Liberals will call an election and make the proper reintroduction of the HST as a election issue. The HST is getting more traction afterall as people learn about it. 6 months ago the spread would have been 80-20.


Let's hope so. Wages and other costs are on the rise...how are we to pay for increases in unionized wages, increase in minimum wages, 11% inflation on health care costs, double tax accounting, and repay the feds at the same time while attempting to adhere to "balanced budget" laws?


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## rich16 (Mar 25, 2011)

I have a fear that the HST was voted down as a backlash against how it was introduced, more than due to the merits (or lack thereof) of the tax itself...wonder where the $3b is going to come from?

From the Sun: 
B.C. officials have said the move back to the PST will cost the province about *$3 billion*, an amount that includes the $1.6 billion transition payment B.C. now needs to return to Ottawa, which administered the HST.

Falcon characterized the result as a "manageable bump in the road", adding the province will be able to meet or exceed its budget targets into the future.

But he said the transition back to the PST will mean government will need to scrutinize all its spending, especially when contemplating any new programs.

"As government manages to get to a balanced budget, in means we will be saying no a lot more than we are saying yes," he said. "Everything will be on the table."

Read more: B.C. voters opt to scrap HST


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## davefrombc (Apr 21, 2010)

VanderZalm is laughing. The public has been suckered ; he gets his revenge , and we are all going to pay the price. Gordon Campbell was a fool for bringing in the HST the way he did , and could likely have brought it in in a way fairer to everyone; but in the long run it is a better tax system than the old PST/HST.. HST rate could have been lowered to 10% at the time , and revenue brought back by increasing corporate income taxes to reflect some of the savings they would make on the tax savings they get with the HST.
Now, we are in the soup. . Ottawa will want to recoup at least some of the transition payment, the PST will need to be reinstated with all its costs, and you and me are going to be paying the bill for all of it .. The Zalm and his cohorts are laughing at us in revenge for getting him tossed from power, and will maybe save some taxes on their real-estate and legal dealings. The Liberals ( really re-branded SoCreds) get theirs for pushing him out.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

is it true the bc liberals are thinking of changing their name again since the federal liberals didnt do so well last election?


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## gmachine19 (Apr 21, 2010)

If only the HST was introduced properly. I for one was not against it. But the way it was imposed on us was just shocking.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I don't care how much more it costs me, it was my stance against how it was introduced. Rash decision, perhaps, but I made my stance and will stick with it. They didn't have this backlash in the east when it was introduced.


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## scherzo (Apr 24, 2010)

Many people voted with emotion! 

I wholeheartedly agree that the HST was brought in terribly! In my opinion Gordon Campbell paid the price and we got what we wanted there. As far as I was concerned we "stuck it to them" there. 

Problem is.. We "stuck it to them" again and unfortunately... We are going to pay billions for it...

This was politics folks.. And like others have said... The public was "played" on this one....

Hey... Why not bring the fast ferries back.... Remember that fiasco?


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

taxation policy by referendum. never a good idea.


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

So either way we have to pay more money... yay....


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## TCR (Jul 13, 2010)

I'm not against how it was introduced.. do you guys all realize they have been making major profits on the introduction on HST??

I'm against the HST in total

helps Major business corporations

I think it was a foolish idea from the get go.... BC had an uproar from the beginning.

At that point they should have called a vote before initiating the placement of HST

"The report also found that the HST has shifted a greater share of taxes from business to individuals and families and that the government was taking in more than $820 million a year in revenue than it would have under the older PST/GST."

"$1.6 billion to harmonize the federal and provincial taxes and that money will now be returned. "

"Within 18 months, the province will revert to a separate GST and PST, Falcon said. At that point, some goods and services such as haircuts, restaurant meals and gym memberships will lose the PST. "

820x2-1640.... we have will have paid more then that silly dept off by next year.. but our retarded provincial government will probably spend it on stupid things like lining their own personal pockets

switching back to gst and pst should not cost a dime as the software and the technology already is present.. sounds like another dumb excuse to rip us all off on millions of dollars

as far as im concerned, If they wanted to introduce a dumb tax like this again they will have to lower the tax and keep the exemptions

But our overspending government wouldn't accept a cut in their revenue

My opinion only ignore this if you disagree


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

People cry foul about what needs to be paid to ottawa, but they fail to realize the majority of that money wasn't even spent yet (and much not even in the general funds last i heard). Take into the account the surprise surplus the HST generated, i doubt the different will be significant, and they still might be ahead if the transfer grant was prorated to the time the tax was in place. Oh and not to mention the apparent waiting period the HST is still forced upon us now, that is more to add to the surplus. Also is it responsible for a government to spend such a large chunk of funding in one years budget? What red ink were they hiding with this cash?

The biggest gain from this is that government has been dealt a blow thanks to their arrogance. For far too long blatant lies have been the norm here, hopefully now this will return politics how it was before, the liability gaps only being promises not fulfilled, rather than doing the complete opposite agenda.

I also can't believe the extent the government has went to mislead the public through ad campaigns funded by us and their donators (smart tax alliance). There's several other sore points they will have to answer to:
-the 5 million spend on their stickman ads is almost as much as the NDP spent on their last election.
-Private sector pumped well over 10 million in tv ads some claim over 15, why would they be so keen to support a tax shift thats said to be neutral
-the censoring of documents as to why they went for a mail in ballot
-No third party financial spending disclosure rules for this referendum, or rules requiring contact information and authorization despite them being in place for elections and other referundums

these points are just for the HST battle, i'm sure the results would have emboldened people to bring up past greivances with this government, from the campbell era (and even the campbell/clark era, ie BC Ferries 'privatization,' BC Rail, etc.) and give other topics the limelight like current BC hydro policy

edit: Fast ferries? come on! add up all the fiasco's the liberals have had since then? the wasted money, cost overruns and scandal far outweighed the cost of the ferries and the fiasco of a premiers deck getting built. Plus the fast ferries were made here, the workers spent their money here for the most part (and taxed). It was a good idea that suffered cost overruns, and issues unforeseeable by politicians, i've seen the same ferries back east, they work well there. Further more the liberals then gave them away for pennies compared to what they were worth (not the amount they cost obviously). What about the ferries purchased out of country, repaired and refitted here just to bring into service and then the BC government obtaining a tariff exemption from the feds despite choosing to not use local (or national) shipyards. Take the cost of the ferries and refits, subtract the money infused into the local economy and taxes from it, and you get a much more cost effective product.


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## fkshiu (Apr 22, 2010)

@#$%#@%, I work for the province and now they'll have a ready excuse to cut our already bare bones staff and budget back even more without that HST money.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

That is definitely a downside. This province seems to be in their own little world when it comes to wage packages. After years and years of minimum wage job growth and benefit slashes, it really makes the public sector wage packages look unfair. Sure there's some meat to trim in the upper ranks, but overall, its fair. People have a right to make a living doing an honest days work and shouldn't require university or a college degree to make a wage above the poverty line, which is sadly where this province is at. The way i see things, a full time job should equal enough income to pay rent, utilities and food for a small family (4 people), and unfortunately, even public sector employees sometimes don't even make that threshold despite all the hype the media creates during negotiations.


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