day 181 - hst eve $

Tomorrow Canada launches the new "harmonized sales tax". Instead of paying two separate taxes (provincial sales tax which is 8% and a federal goods and services tax which is 5%) we will now pay one combined tax of 13%. Apparently we won't notice a difference on 83% of the things we buy, but the other 17% will be taxed at a higher rate.

One of the biggest things that is going to be affected is the price of gas. As of midnight the price of gas will go from being taxed at 5% to 13%. Because of that, the gas station was packed tonight when I went out to do some errands. 92.9 cents per litre is far from a deal, but it's better than the $1 it's going to cost tomorrow.



I have a phrase that sums up my feelings on this whole HST thing perfectly, but I'll shut my mouth as there are grandparents reading this.