Provincial sales tax would be palatable if it was shared fairly

Editor:

Although the general consensus of the people of Alberta appears to be we don’t want a PST, aka Political Suicide Tax here, there are still rumblings every now and then that we need one to counteract the boom and bust cycle.

I would be more inclined to accept a PST if the burden was shared fairly among all income classes.

Guess what? It isn’t, and here is why. Suppose you are a hardworking individual making $45,000 a year supporting a partner and two children. Every cent that comes into your home is used to survive. You pay a PST on most things you buy with some exemptions such as basic groceries.

You are already paying five per cent GST and now imagine an additional 10 per cent PST like they do in Nova Scotia for example.

You have to buy a new fridge for $9000 and you pay an extra $135 tax! $45.00 GST + $90.00 PST which has the wonderful warm feeling name of a Harmonized Sales Tax or HST.

Now consider your luck has changed and now you have advanced to the point that you are the CEO of a large company pulling in $12,000,000 a year and you have to replace your fridge.

You buy a $4,000 smart fridge that tells you when your milk is getting low and you pay the HST of $600 for a total of $4,600 and you don’t even break into a sweat! On top of that, you might even be able to figure out how to claim the fridge as a business expense. Like the housekeeper at Leona Helmsley’s, aka Queen of Mean, quoted her at Leona’s trial for tax evasion, “We don’t pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes.”

Although we are supposed to have a progressive income tax system in this country, trust me, it isn’t.

The tax burden is supported for the most part by the middle class and the poor while the super rich enjoy government subsidies and use every loophole in the tax system to avoid paying their fair share. By the way, if you think a flat income tax is the answer, use the example of the HST above to see how unfair that system would be for the working poor.

One more thing. The government is making promises to “fix” the housing crisis. This is not the first time this has happened.

In the ‘70s the government brought out the Multiple Unit Residential Building (MURB) plan to address the housing affordability issue. The super rich developers received big tax breaks and then proceeded to build luxury condos etc.

Why? More money for them of course! Who was the leader then? Why Justin Trudeau’s dad Pierre! Of course this problem runs through all political stripes because the super rich actually control much of the government.

When was the last time the government offered to bail you out of a financial issue, or offered you $13.2 billion to start a battery factory in Ontario?

Where do they get that money? Oh right, our tax dollars! Doug Cameron

Lethbridge