Grand River Transit

[danbrotherston]

This is likely false or nearly false.

It would only be true if the money people are spending on gas would have otherwise been spent in a way that doesn't result in HST being collected. I.e., if they're buying gas instead of food, or gas instead of investing their money.

If they're buying gas instead of other luxuries (the most likely case) then it's HST neutral.

People make this argument all the time but it's assuming things exist in isolation...they don't.

"IF" they're buying gas instead of other "luxuries" O.K.  But there's still a ton of people who haven't given up on any "luxuries" to buy gas.  They pay the current higher prices of fuel including HST, suck it up and move on and then pay the HST on their other purchases that they would normally pay it on.  There is more HST being collected from these consumers.       

Regardless, I can only speak for myself and I haven't had to give up anything just to purchase more expensive gas and judging by the amount of cars on the roads out there, I'm not alone.

Don't forget about the transportation industry that uses millions of litres of diesel per day and the additional amount of HST that is being collected there.     

Sometimes people assume because they struggle financially or have to make tough choices on where they should spend their money that everyone else is in the same boat.

Suck what up?

Money doesn't come from nowhere. Like I said, if you are pulling it from your savings, that's one option that does increase GST collected (although only by shifting it to now, rather than later, presumably you would eventually spend your savings).

But most people are not going to have that option, and are going to forego some other expenditure.

And the same follows for industry, that HST collected then would have been collected on some other business expense, or would have been paid in labour which is taxed at a higher rate (as would dividends).

The only thing which increases the amount of GST collected is either an increase in the GDP or a shift of spending from GST exempt items to non-exempt items.