A two-month removal of the GST may be beneficial to some, but businesses are paying a price as they scramble to reset point of sale machines for the specific items being exempted.
BC Chamber of Commerce past director Tanya Finley says she can understand why the government is providing a rebate to those who need it but businesses who have a big inventory don’t have time to adjust.
“This is just giving the employers more work that they need to do,” she says. “If the government is recognizing that we, as citizens, need a tax break then the GST should be removed entirely.
“The hindrance is the work that is related on the office side, and the time needed to make adjustments.”
The federal liberals been declining in the polls for quite some time, and Finley believes that installing a ‘grace period’ during the Christmas holiday with little to no time for businesses to prepare has alternate motives.
“Most of us are busy, and this is our busiest time of the year, so to have to put another administrative piece on businesses at this time is an inconvenience, and possibly they’re looking at this as an election piece,” she says.
Vancouver Island University Jarislowsky chair in trust and political leadership, Dr. Micheal MacKenzie, says what the government has done is reopen the debate on the GST in the hopes of regaining popularity while destabilizing a reliable source of income.
The exemption is expected to come into effect Dec. 14 and include a variety of items across the retail spectrum.
