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Among
the proposals was to lower the GST one percentage point, a
policy the Conservatives campaigned on and first enacted
with a one-percentage-point cut in 2006.
Several
local businesses said the cut would have little or no
effect on consumer spending.
"A
one-per-cent reduction on a small purchase is not a big
deal."said Mike Howard, owner of Sepp's Skis and
Snowboards.
Howard
said that despite the federal government's rosy outlook on
the reduction, he doesn't expect it to help his store sell
more product. When the federal government lowered the GST
to six per cent in 2006, Howard said there was no effect.
Doug
Ritchie, managing director of Downtown Kingston BIA, an
association that represents hundreds of businesses, said
that the GST was always an "unpopular tax" and
that "in principle, any cut in taxes relating to
purchases is a good thing."
But
the return for businesses is minimal, Ritchie said.
"A
one-per-cent cut, as far as sales go, the floodgates won't
open," he said.
Economists
thinks that a GST cut has the most impact on high-end
purchases, such as cars or other expensive goods.
A
west-end Kingston flooring sales and installation business
agreed that the reduction won't drive more sales in its
line of business.
Merv
Schick, owner and manager of End of the Roll, said that as
with the previous cut, he expects there will be no
spending reaction from customers.
"Last
time, nobody talked about it," he said.
Schick
also challenged the government's incremental tax cuts. To
make a real difference, he suggested making an impact by
taking tax cuts even further.
"I
think if they are going to make a leap, then make a
leap."
Source
:
The
Kingston Whig-Standard - Kingston, Ontario, Canada, dated
01/11/2007
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