Manitoba experts weigh federal GST holiday plans

The federal government is planning a ‘GST holiday’ — a two-month federal sales tax break on a slew of items. It’s a move  the prairie director of the Retail Council of Canada says comes with pros and cons.

John Graham told 680 CJOB’s Connecting Winnipeg he’s hopeful the announcement does what it’s intended to do.

The feds say the initiative would start in mid-December and last for about two months.

“There’s a fair bit of time required to make sure you’re accurately removing or adding GST, and it is a short window — a couple of months,” Graham said.

“The upside is that it may put more money in people’s pockets, and some of that’s going to land in retail stores and restaurants.”

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Graham said he wishes the announcement had been made earlier in the year, as it would have benefited more people ahead of the holiday season.

“The majority of Manitobans, about two-thirds, are going to shop this month for their holiday shopping, because Black Friday sales are increasingly the best deals of the year,” he said.

“So, a lot of retailers are aggressively competing to get your business now, and not two weeks before Christmas.

“It’s good for some of the items — like snack foods, beer, wine, pop, food platters — all of that stuff is certainly closer to Dec. 25.”

A political scientist at the University of Manitoba, however, says he’s not a fan of the decision.

“I suppose, to be charitable, you could look at this as a quick win — so to speak — for the government,” Malcolm Bird told 680 CJOB, “to help embattled citizens with some immediate and tangible revenue and relief.

“But these things are largely done for political benefit rather than as an effective policy means.”

And even then, Bird said, the policy has only limited value on the political stage.

3:13 Trudeau attempts to shore up support with GST ‘holiday’

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