Ottawa’s GST break begins this weekend but Calgarians shopping for booze won’t find a tax exemptions on everything — especially if they are choosing spirits over beer.
The federal government passed legislation in November for a two-month tax break starting Dec. 14 that covers dozens of items commonly purchased over the holidays, including children’s clothes and toys, video games and consoles, Christmas trees, restaurant and catered meals, candy, snacks, and some liquor products.
Beer and wine that have an alcohol content of 22 per cent or less will be GST free, but for spirits and mixed drinks the GST exemption will only be for items with an alcohol content of 7 per cent or less.
The owner of Vine Styles — a wine, craft beer and spirits store in Calgary’s Kensington neighbourhood — says it’s been a logistics nightmare. Nathalie Gosselin says it would have been a lot easier if the government just put a tax break on everything.
“I would have wait preferred 5 per cent GST relief on everything,” she says. “That could have been so much easier.”
“We could have had a button at the front till to remove GST on everything for two months and I wouldn’t have to do so much work on the back end adjusting prices.”
Gosselin says she already bought most of her product in the last two months with GST.
“I’m basically losing 5 per cent on of our sales because I’ve done most of my purchasing,” she says.
She’s also worried the Canada Revenue Agency may audit small businesses like hers if they make a mistake.
“We are all going to do our best but there will be some mistakes happening, and I can’t afford to have an audit down the road with issues,” she says. “When the government didn’t help us to set up properly or fix things on time.”
As for whether or not it will make an impact for Calgary consumers, people CityNews spoke with have mixed opinions. Some say they would be buying booze over the holidays regardless, others say they plan on stocking up over the next two months.
“I’m buying all my alcohol for the whole year,” says one shopper. “I don’t really mind, I just like my beer.”
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has said amajority of small businesses are opposed to the tax holiday, with only 4 per cent surveyed expecting stronger sales because of the measure.
The GST break will last until Feb. 15 of next year.