Taxation in British Columbia: "...they want to spread the misery to all."

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2012/11/22/jordan-bateman-sneaky-libs-want-to-expand-taxation-with-new-pst/

Jordan Bateman: Sneaky Libs want to expand taxation with new PST

"When British Columbians rejected the Harmonized Sales Tax in the 2011 referendum, they were promised things would go back to the provincial sales tax normal.

But an independent panel has recommended adding taxes to things that virtually every B.C. family buys — a plan that will increase our already sky-high cost of living.

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Ask a parent about the cost of school supplies, and you will likely hear it’s a major struggle every September to get items on the ever-growing supply list. It’s not just pencils and notebooks anymore; schools ask parents to purchase emergency supplies like foil blankets, light sticks, tissue, water and food. Adding another seven per cent of tax to those purchases will make things even worse.

The panel claims it’s unfair to satellite television users to tax them but not tax cable. They also say telecommunication bundling makes it difficult to collect the tax. No arguments here, but instead of recommending a tax cut for satellite subscribers, they want to spread the misery to all.

They’re also after your Smarties.

While some suggest that taxing snack food will curb obesity, neither research nor practice has bore that out. Even leading B.C. doctors agree that taxing snack food will do little, and that it is incredibly difficult to implement.