“Actually, the experience here in Canada has been that the sales tax is the most difficult to increase because it’s so visible. Corporate and payroll taxes are the easiest to hike because most voters don’t notice, but add a penny to the sales tax and EVERYONE notices.”
That’s my point actually. Taxation won’t end there. It will merely be another tool of taxation among taxes. And I refuse to allow anyone to convince me otherwise because you and our neighbors to the north are the finest example.
Well, our taxes dropped quite dramatically in the 1990s. The GST was actually revenue neutral because it replaced a hidden sales tax that was levied on manufacturers and importers. The beauty of it now is that our Conservative PM has cut two points off the rate (from 7% to 5%) and put the opposition in a position where they’ll actually have to go into the next election campaign with their vote against the cut fresh on everyone’s mind.