The B.C. Government claims that a Harmonized Sales Tax will in fact have a positive impact on the restaurant industry. The HST will purportedly save small and medium size business approximately $2 billion in business costs, savings which, in turn, can be passed to the consumer.

How does this work?
Currently with the embedded PST system businesses are paying taxes on most of their inputs that go into producing their goods or service. These embedded taxes are factored in to the price consumers pay on the final product or service.

We have received a lot of emails asking for a comprehensive list of HST exemptions in Ontario, so here it is. The following is from the Ontario Ministry of Revenue website.

[An article by Andre Bradford]

Although the government of Ontario recently chose to exempt low cost meals and items (those under $4) from the Harmonized Sale Tax (HST), restaurateurs warn that prices may still rise. Tim Horton’s, along with several prominent fast food chains and other countless small time businesses, has joined together with the Canadian Restaurateurs Food Association to protest the implementation of the HST. Posters and petitions for the ‘No Meal Tax’ have become a mainstay in Tim’s and other establishments across the provinces of BC and Ontario, …