If it is passed into law, the GST holiday could provide a two-month tax break on a plethora of consumer items.
On Nov. 21, the Government of Canada put out a news release outlining their latest venture to help provide Canadians with relief from the rising cost of living. Though the government recognizes that they “can’t set prices at the checkout,” they proposed new legislation, Bill C-78, asking for a two-month Goods and Services Tax and Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) break that would be applied to “groceries and holiday essentials” to help Canadians save money.
The tax break period is proposed to occur from December to February, as the holidays often cause a surge of costs for Canadian families.
According to the statement, if the bill gets passed into law, Canadians will see “an estimated $1.6 billion in federal tax relief.”
Businesses would be expected to remove the GST or HST from children’s clothing, including baby bibs, blankets and children’s winter accessories; children’s footwear, diapers, children’s car seats and print newspapers; books, excluding magazines, sales catalogues, some colouring books, books designed for writing in and more; Christmas trees as well as other decorative trees; many food and beverages found at the grocery store; restaurant meals; video-game consoles and select children’s toys.
The full list of items, which outlines specific exclusions, can be found in the Government of Canada’s news release on the holiday.
The news release outlines the significance of the proposed legislation especially in relation to the ever-rising cost of groceries, which has been one of the more noticeable consequences of the rising cost of living in Canada.
The two-month tax break promises to make “essentially all food GST/HST free” so all Canadians can benefit from the government’s efforts to bring down daily costs.
The news release also outlines that the GST/HST costs would be relieved on the importation of any of the covered items if they are imported during the two months in which the tax break will take effect.
The tax break would be automatically applied to any of these goods at the register, so there will be no tax on the final price.
There were mixed reactions to the proposed bill in Parliament. Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, warned that his party would be voting against the bill.
Poilievre said the bill is only coming from desperation on behalf of Trudeau, who has “lost control but [is] trying to hold on to power.”
He went on to call the bill an “irresponsible and inflationist […] tax trick” and said that his party will not show their support of it in Parliament.
The Bloc Québécois sided with the Conservative Party and agreed that they were not supporting the bill, calling it an effort for “the Liberal government […] to buy votes.”
Despite the Bloc and Conservative’s opposition toward the GST holiday, the bill was passed by a majority in the House of Commons on Nov. 28, bringing it closer to being passed through into law.
Bill C-78 must still pass through the Senate for it to occur this month. If passed, the tax holiday will take effect from Dec. 14 to Feb. 15, 2025.