On November 12, 2009, after significant lobbying from the Canadian Newspaper Association and the Canadian Community Newspaper Association, the Ontario government announced that newspaper subscriptions and single copy sales will be HST exempt.

Along with the announcement about newspapers, it was also said that certain prepared food and beverages costing less than $4.00 will be HST exempt as well.

Dwight Duncan, the Minister of Finance, had this to say about the news:

“Not applying the provincial portion of the HST to newspapers and qualifying prepared food and beverages sold for a total of $4 or less would save money for virtually all Ontarians on a daily basis. Today’s announcement is about more than the price of your coffee and newspaper, it’s about a much larger comprehensive tax package that would create jobs for Ontarians and boost our economy, as we come out of this global recession.”

The exemption makes sense in the wake of weary restaurants and coffee shops concerned about adding an additional cost to their products. As John Wilkinson, Minister of Revenue, states:

“Our tax changes are about helping Ontario families by creating jobs and putting more money in their pockets through tax breaks and credits. Millions of Ontarians who buy their morning coffee would benefit from today’s announcement, but the greatest benefit to all Ontarians would be the additional jobs created as a result of our tax package.”

Although, that does leave the higher end coffee drinkers high and dry should that coffee cost more than $4. At first glance this might look like a win for critics of the new tax, but others are pointing out that it seems like band-aid type solutions are being applied before HST is even instituted.