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Smart Tax Alliance ads muddy already muddy waters

HST

IntegrityBC is calling on the Smart Tax Alliance to immediately pull ads that the pro-HST group is running that deceive British Columbians into believing that the HST rate has already been cut to 10 per cent.

IntegrityBC drew issue with the script in two separate ads by the Alliance: in one Heather Weber (referring to the HST) states “It’s been cut to 10 per cent” and in the other Christine Dendy states “and now the decrease in the HST from 12 to 10 per cent saves us all money.”

“As the Alliance knows, not a single British Columbian today pays a 10 per cent HST as these ads imply,” said IntegrityBC’s Aisha Vance

“While the B.C. government may have promised to cut the HST to 10 per cent by 2014, it’s a promise entirely contingent on the HST passing, the B.C. Liberal party being reelected, and the party keeping its word.”

IntegrityBC compared the Alliance ads to a company advertising a sale price that’s only available in three years and then only if the customer doesn’t buy from a competitor in the meantime, that the business is still under the same ownership three years down the road and that there have been no unforeseen economic crises in the interim that could cause an adjustment to the sticker price.

IntegrityBC also noted that the B.C. government could choose to reduce the combined PST/GST rate to 10 per cent as part of its “Families First” agenda in the event the HST referendum fails to ensure comparable savings for B.C. families and seniors.

 

“Otherwise its ‘Families First’ agenda might only be seen as a ‘Politics above all’ agenda,” said Vance

 

Contributed by Aisha Vance, Integrity B.C.