You’re getting “half a story” if you listen to the opposition.
So says former Liberal health minister David Caplan, reacting to a document made public by the NDP.
The document, from the Ministry of Finance, says the Harmonized Sales Tax will boost our hydro bills by 100-dollars a year and gas bills will go up about 125 dollars a year.
While Caplan doesn’t deny the figures, he points out it’s only half the story.
He say the HST and the combination of tax reforms will result in 93 per cent of Ontarians will see a tax reduction.
Caplan says independent economists have said with the tax cuts and the introduction of the HST, it will all come out revenue-neutral for most taxpayers in the province.
Caplan says although he’s on the government side right now, he has been on the opposition side as well and he knows from experience that opposition MPP’s are fond of telling only half the story.
He says it’s important that Ontarians understand the full scope of the tax reform that will come into effect.
On July 1st, the G-S-T merges with the eight per cent P-S-T, making the total levy on things such as energy 13 per cent.