Sales taxes taking bite out of the holidays in other provinces: CTF

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on December 29, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Kris Sims believes in the Alberta advantage.

Sims, Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, recently moved to Lethbridge from B.C. with her family and has seen first-hand the lower costs residents of this province face daily with no provincial sales tax to take more hard-earned money out of wallets.

But Sims has more than anecdotal evidence to base her opinion of the Alberta Advantage on.

Retail data shows Albertans will have saved about $184 million – a conservative estimate, according to Sims – on such things as gifts, decorations, toys and candy during the holiday season between American Thanksgiving and New Years.

Data suggests that Canadians spend about $1,137 on gifts and supplies during this season, a figure which doesn’t include alcohol.

Sims said each Albertan saved about $80 during the holiday season because there is no provincial sales tax here.

Affordability, said Sims in an interview Wednesday, is one of the reasons Alberta from July through September experienced the biggest intra-provincial migration to the province by other Canadians since 1980.

Affordability is an issue in her home province of B.C. where most working people can’t afford to buy a house anymore, said the mom of two children. Back in Hope, Sims said she’s seen a tear-down house listed with an $800,000 price tag. B.C. also has a second hidden carbon tax on fuel, said Sims.

She said residents of B.C. will pay about $71 each in provincial sales tax during the holiday season, collecting roughly $188 million for government coffers.

Data supplied by Sims shows Saskatchewan shoppers will pay about $68 in PST during the holidays on a tax rate of six per cent, costing them about $40 million in total. Manitoba is expected to collect $55 million on its seven per cent PST during Christmas with that tax costing residents there about $88 apiece.

The cost to residents in other provinces is even higher with Quebecers expected to pay about $112 each on a PST of 9.9 per cent, according to CTF figures. This means the government will generate about $470 million in PST during the season.

Ontario with its eight per cent PST will cost shoppers about $90 each during the holidays, bringing in $675 million for Doug Ford’s government.

The four Atlantic provinces, says the CTF, pay a 15 per cent harmonized sales tax. Ten per cent of that goes to the respective province with five per cent going to Ottawa, says the CTF.

Alberta, Sims said, takes a more hands-off approach to government than other provinces.

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