Here comes the HST
Filed Under Main Content · Tagged: British Columbia, Canadians, Charitable Trusts, Exchange Traded Funds, Harmonized Sales Tax, Index Funds, Investment Portfolios, July 1, Money, Mutual Funds, Ottawa, Retirement Portfolios, Retirement Products, Sales Tax, Shortfall
Financial Post- On July 1, government will introduce a tax on retirement products. Here comes the HST …
Even as Ottawa seeks ways to help under-saving Canadians put away more for retirement, the shortfall will only be exacerbated when the harmonized sales tax comes into effect next week in Ontario and British Columbia.
Managed money–professionally managed investment portfolios–is subject to HST. That means mutual funds, wrap accounts, hedge funds, segregated funds, charitable trusts and even passively managed index funds and exchange-traded funds — the basics of most retirement portfolios– will see increased fees…
B.C. economy springs back from recession
Filed Under Main Content · Tagged: British Columbia, British Economy, Economic Performance, Economic Recovery, Finance Minister, Financial Losses, Globe And Mail, Government Revenues, Hansen, Provincial Government, Recession, Red Ink, Shoppers, Steam, Tax Bills, Taxes
The Globe and Mail- British Columbia’s economy is picking up steam, with housing prices rebounding faster and higher than expecting, more people finding work and shoppers spending as if the recession never happened.
But the province’s better-than-expected economic performance will likely not mean much this year for the fiscally strapped provincial government, which is spending $1.7-billion more than it is taking in.
Government revenues usually lag behind an economic recovery, B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen said Thursday in a brief interview.
Financial losses over the past two years will reduce corporate and personal tax bills for awhile yet. The government will not start to see increased revenue from taxes “until the red ink has worked its way through,” Mr. Hansen said…
B.C. economy springs back from recession – The Globe and Mail
Wealth effect is anything but
Filed Under Main Content · Tagged: Assets, Bank Of Canada, Consecutive Quarter, Economist, First Quarter, Household, Net Worth, Ottawa Citizen, Recession, Royal Bank Of Canada, Statistics Canada, Stock Portfolios, Trillion, Wealth Effect
Ottawa Citizen- There is something about our stock portfolios and homes being worth more that makes us want to spend.
“It’s called the wealth effect. If you feel you have more, you are more willing to spend more,” says David Onyett-Jeffries, an economist with Royal Bank of Canada.
“When people see their house value increase, they are more willing to spend because there is less requirement to save. They view these assets as being marketable and gaining value.”
Statistics Canada said this week that household net worth increased by 1.3% in the first quarter to $6-trillion — a fourth consecutive quarter of improving wealth. Household net worth has recovered 96% of what was lost during the recession…
Annual HST hit for average B.C. household is $521
Filed Under Main Content · Tagged: Amount Of Money, Bottom Line, Economics Professor, Harmonized Sales Tax, Household, Households, Hst, Married Couple, People, Sales Tax, Schuetze, Single Parents, Statistics Canada, Times Colonist, University Of Victoria
Times Colonist- The average B.C. household could take a hit of $521 to its bottom line next year as a result of the harmonized sales tax, according to a model prepared for the Times Colonist by Statistics Canada.
The change could range anywhere from $78 for households with single parents and one child to $801 for a married couple with no children, the figures show.
"There are certainly individuals and households that will feel the impact of this tax," said Herbert Schuetze, economics professor at the University of Victoria. "For example, if you are unattached and 65 years or older we’re talking about $262 a year. That’s a considerable amount of money for some people…"
