HST could hurt parents come school year

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The kids are out for the summer, but in a couple of months it will be time to gather back up the essentials needed to send junior back to the classroom. The Harmonized Sales Tax has not even come into effect yet, but the Consumers Association of Canada has already been getting angry calls from parents concerned about the HST and back-to-school shopping.

A lot of parents are concerned about not having tax exempt from kids clothing.

Bruce Cran with the advocacy group says they are hearing other complaints from people who believe they will be forced to pay HST on school supplies.”

HST on school supplies is something that hurts the bottom line for Gwen Giesbrecht who is very involved in her son’s school.

“For families with small incomes and multiple children, I can see how that would become a significant amount of their family budgeting money.”

Giesbrecht says it’s difficult to budget for a child because they change so quickly. “I estimate spending every six months or so, $200-$300. But over a year, it’s going to be an extra couple weeks worth of groceries.”

Visa Canada estimates the average consumer spends about $600 annually on back-to-school shopping. 

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