07-05-2019, 01:34 PM
tomh009 Wrote:Quote:Students will tend to pay little to no income tax. They will pay HST the same as everyone else. And contrary to many people's perception, they (indirectly) pay property taxes -- which are used to fund transit -- the same as any other tenant of a rental apartment or house. (Possible exception: I don't know whether university-owned residences are exempt from property taxes.)
A typical student will receive most or all of their HST paid back to them from the HST credit, I would imagine.
That's actually an interesting point about student residences. My understanding is that the provincial government transfers some amount to municipalities in lieu of property tax payments from post-secondary institutions, and that it is less than what the tax owing would be were they taxed at commercial rates.
It's neither here nor there, though. I don't think that was really the point of the editorial. The point was, no one takes transit who has a choice. Which is false.