Editor:
As I see it, we are going to pay just so much in taxes.
The only choice we have is in what form we want the taxation.
Basically, we have three choices: income tax, property tax, or sales tax.
It sounds painless to say, “Make business pay,” but in essence that is just a hidden form of sales tax — we pay businesses’ taxes when we buy their goods or services.
Economists tell us that a sales tax is the least detrimental tax to the economy. Businesses are attracted to invest in places with favourable tax policies.
This in return results in more prosperity and more jobs. An interesting example is the deep south in the U.S. This area was deeply depressed until these states made it tax-attractive for business.
Businesses moved in and the economy boomed.
Since we are going to pay the government costs one way or another, let us choose that which is the best for our economy.
A practical reason for the HST is that administration costs for one tax will be less than for two.
That should result in a somewhat smaller tax burden, which we would hope would be passed on to the people.
Margie Kaufman
Williams Lake