Freedom Flyer 19

Now that the Goods and Services Tax is in force, Canadians will suffer another massive tax grab.

The average person in Ontario already works from Jan. 1 to July 7 just to pay his combined federal, provincial, and municipal taxes.

According to the Fraser Institute, the GST will make Tax Freedom Day - the day when we finally finish paying our taxes for the year - fall on July 23, two weeks later.

This is apparent when we consider that the GST is collected based on the retail price of almost all goods and services, while the old Manufacturers' Sales Tax was collected on the rnanufacturer's price of some items.

Manufactured goods such as furniture are usually sold to a wholesaler who in turn sells them to a retailer. By the time they are finally sold to the consumer the price can easily be marked up 100 per cent.

If a wall unit is made for $500 and eventually sold to the consumer for $1,000, Ottawa would collect $67.50 under the old tax and $70 under GST.

Taking into account the GST paid on clothes, haircuts, stamps, newspapers, and other items that were previously exempt from federal tax, Ottawa will rake in millions in extra taxes.

It is a tragic irony that the alternative proposed by the Liberals and NDP - higher taxes on business - would not really change anything.

The businessman must collect every dollar of tax he pays from his customers. Therefore all business taxes are really paid by the public, so the opposition is not advocating anything genuinely different.

The GST has brought the question of "fair" taxes into the limelight.

The purpose of most taxes levied in Canada today is to take people's hard-earned money from them without their consent and give it to others. What can possibly be fair about this?

Any tax for something other than essential services provided to every taxpayer can never be considered fair.

The government must ultimately get every dollar it spends from the taxpayers. If politicians resort to borrowing the money they only postpone the inevitable, while saddling the public with a burden of debt to carry.

The combined debt of the federal and provincial governments, which grows every year, now exceeds $450 billion. Interest on this debt consumes a steadily growing proportion of our tax dollars.

The only way to achieve lower taxes is to stop talking about the problem and start working for a solution. Only when we elect politicians dedicated to lower government spending and eliminating deficits can lower taxes become a reality.