GST/HST holiday gets mixed reviews for small northeastern Ontario businesses
Businesses welcome the relief for customers but say changes have been a burden to implement
For businesses in northeastern Ontario, the GST/HST holiday that started on Dec. 14 has been a mixed bag.
Kaitlin Lutyk, the co-owner of the Knowhere Public House restaurant in Sudbury, said she had to manually go through more than 900 items in her point of sale system to properly reflect the tax changes.
Most restaurant items are exempt from sales tax until Feb. 15, but alcoholic spirits and liqueurs are not. Cocktails that contain spirits, and have more than 7 per cent alcohol content, also don't get the tax break.
"So it was a bit of a challenge and a struggle to do that," Lutyk said.
"And obviously that's not how I want to spend my time as a business owner. There's always so much else to do."
Lutyk said the tax holiday is a "stupid gimmick" that won't result in big savings for most people.
She remains skeptical as to whether it will bring in more customers to her restaurant, but hopes it can at least help during January, which tends to be a slower month for the hospitality sector.
Lutyk added that former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's resignation letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau showed that even she was against the GST/HST holiday.
"I think it's just a waste of everybody's time," Lutyk said.
"And I think it's a really silly gimmick for the party to put in place, essentially trying to get votes in the future and try to make us happy about what is going on."
Relief for customers
Shawn Splint, the owner of Creative Learning Toys in North Bay, said his experience with the tax holiday has been more positive.
Splint said all the items in his toy store are made for children, which means everything qualifies for the tax holiday.
Because of that, adjusting his point of sale system was more straightforward.
Splint said he had more customers than usual during the first weekend of the tax holiday.
"We have noticed an uptick in sales and interested people coming in and shopping, which has been good to see," he said.
Splint said he supports any initiatives that help people save money.
But he added that many small businesses have faced hurdles adjusting to the change, especially when only some of their products qualify for the tax holiday.