Thursday, April 2, 2009

April Fool's Day: Phony Sales Tax in Niagara Falls, Ontario

below: receipts from April 1, 2009, and Feb.9, 2009, showing a combined 13% sales tax of 52 cents being charged charged on food orders of $4.00!! (What, is Dalton McGuinty's SHT tax  - his Liberal's new single harmonized tax - already in place in Niagara Falls?!)
Other outlets in this same chain only charge a total of $4.20 for the exact same order, as only the 5% GST applies, ie $4.00 x 5% = $4.20.
click on photo to enlarge.
Federal auditor Sheila Fraser yesterday in her report mentioned that the federal government should be looking at all the tax revenue being lost in the hidden underground economy.

For some time now, a Tim Hortons Niagara Falls coffee outlet has been openly charging an 8% Provincial Sales Tax (PST) on food sales of $4.00 – but food sales $4.00 and under are supposed to be exempt from the PST. The customer is being charged a total of 13% tax on a $4 snack!!

Why is this allowed by Ontario’s Liberal government? Are the provincial Liberals not spending enough resources to monitor and enforce their own tax policies, being openly flaunted at the retail level?

What is Kim Craitor, the Niagara Falls Liberal MPP, doing about this? How many operators in Niagara Falls are overcharging or improperly calculating the taxes on bills they hand to customers?

It’s bad enough that tourists at various Niagara Falls, Ontario, hotels and restaurants are being hit with a confusing, privately-run fake-tax, the so-called “destination marketing fee” (DMF), which mimics real (ie government-sanctioned) DMF's that are legitimately in place in other Ontario cities.

How many customers even know that they are being ripped off if they pay 8% PST on a snack selling for $4.00 or less; that only the 5% GST applies?

How many visitors are aware that they have NO obligation whatsoever to pay any DMF being shoved onto them in Niagara Falls, Ont? The local MPP, Kim Craitor, has emphasized that point - yet his Liberal government continues to allow the current non-government-sanctioned DMF to operate un-regulated.

And why are Phony Sales Taxes allowed to be charged in Niagara Falls, Ont.?

1 comment:

R.Bobak said...

Finally, years later, the St.Catharines Standard, in its Mar 31, 2016 edition, has decided to write a 3-part story by John law, titled "DMF, the hidden fee" about this festering phony-tax/private-tax so-called DMF 'fee' charge (apparently up to 10% of the bill!!!) used by some businesses to try to fleece unsuspecting visitors to Niagara Falls, Ontario.
One proponent defending this fee, Wayne Thompson, even goes so far as to say that a visitor to Niagara Falls, Ontario, who refuses to pay this DMF phony tax (which is supposed to be 'voluntary') risks having the business that is charging those disputed fees calling the police against the complainant!!
What a con-job-style 'welcome' to Niagara Falls, Ontario.