Canadian Conservatives To Cut Sales Tax

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

05 December 2005

Stephen Harper, leader of Canada's Conservative Party, has announced that a new Conservative government will seek to cut the Goods and Services Tax from seven per cent to five per cent within five years of coming to power.

“Mainstream Canadians – hardworking people who pay their taxes and play by the rules – need a new government that will put their interests ahead of self-interest,” Mr. Harper stated last Thursday.

“We will start by reducing taxes for all," he added.

According to the Conservatives, the amount of GST taken from Canadians has doubled, from C$15.9 billion (US$13.7 billion) to C$31.8 billion while the Liberal government has been in power, exceeding inflation and outstripping growth in earnings.

"Meanwhile, the Liberals have spent money on themselves and their friends, and wasted billions of taxpayers’ dollars," the Conservatives alleged.

The Conservatives are pledging to immediately cut the GST to six per cent, then reducing the tax further, to five per cent within five years. The party claims that this will save ordinary taxpayers C$4.5 billion, with more savings to come.

“This will be a tax cut that you will see every time you shop, tax relief that you experience, a tax break that no politician will be able to take away without you noticing,” stated Mr. Harper.

Canadian voters are due to elect a new government in a poll at the end of January after the minority Liberal government lost a no-confidence vote in the House of Commons last month. The Liberals have pledged to cut both personal and corporate income tax over the coming years.

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