It’s that time of year again – When budgets get balanced and tax hikes are proposed.
The difference is this year the province is considering raising the Harmonised Sales Tax (HST) from 13 per cent to 15 per cent. This is projected to yield around $300 million annually.
“I really see it as being a negative for students and anyone who’s not that financially stable,” said Shawn Goff, a third-year student at St. Thomas.
Goff said it may have a less-than-noteworthy effect on minor purchases, but in the end, it all adds up.
He may be onto something as well, between NB Power’s scheduled rate increases and the proposed HST hike comes and increased heating bill for New Brunswickers. In some cases, the HST increase alone could result in heating costs going up around $8 to $10. Goff said while it’s not world-ending, it certainly doesn’t help those in need.
The province did not respond to a request for a comment from The Aquinian , but stated in a press release that in order to reduce the negative impacts of an HST hike, it could “direct as much as $100 million of new HST revenue towards programs to assist low and middle-income households to offset the impact of an increased HST.”
Goff said the problem with this is that while tax breaks and higher HST cheques are useful, they don’t do much in the short term for those who need the help. These people are typically living paycheck-to-paycheck and don’t have a lot of spare cash to throw around on any given day.
Any proposed HST increases would also affect fuel prices, bringing up the cost of almost any product that has to be shipped slightly, which would nudge overall expenditures up even more.
Goff said while he sees the potential gains from the tax change, the benefits may not outweigh the cost to young Canadians.
“It’s absurd. I have student loans to worry about and now they want to raise taxes.”
