MEETING OUR GST/HST
COMMITMENT
We’ve delivered on our commitment—one of our five core
priorities—to cut the GST by one percentage point.
Reducing the GST is a tax cut like no other:
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Everyone benefits, young and old. Even those who don’t
earn enough to pay personal income tax get real savings day in
and day out from the GST cut.
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Reducing the GST delivers tax relief on purchases, large and
small, from buying a new lawnmower to buying a new family home.
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And it is a visible and immediate tax cut every time you buy
a product or a service.
Cutting the GST is money in the bank for each and every Canadian
this year, next year and every year after that.
It will leave almost $9 billion more in the pockets of Canadians
over the next two years alone, increasing family income and strengthening
the economy.
Everyone—from the newspaper carrier to the senior on fixed
income—will save money.
Take the case of a young family thinking of buying a new home.
On a $200,000 house, they will save almost $1,300. That’s
$1,300 they can choose to spend on other important things they need
for their kids.
If they purchase $20,000 in furnishings for their home, they will
save another $200—money they are no longer sending to the
government and that stays in their pockets.
If someone spends $30,000 on a new car, they will be $300 ahead
of where they would have been had the government not cut the GST.
Canadians win in other ways, as well, from the GST cut.
For example, though we have cut the GST rate to 6 per cent, we
have maintained the GST credit at the level it was at when the GST
was at 7 per cent.
This is particularly helpful to low- and modest-income Canadians
and their families.
Our businesses, large and small, will also benefit from cutting
the GST.
It will make their products and services more affordable to consumers.
This will help spur consumer demand and interest in their products
and services, benefit their bottom line and contribute to economic
growth in their communities and right across the country.
No matter how you look at it, the GST cut puts everyone—individuals,
families and businesses—in the win column.
It gives Canadians and their families greater freedom to choose
what to do with their own hard-earned money.
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