cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/34926056
Canada has implemented a new tax savings from December to February for some things like taxable groceries, crafts, and gaming physical media. I wanted to get a new Xbox controller and found the best price at Walmart for $55 a week ago. The tax holiday starts today and I now see that the $55 has increased to $62 and change, which is about how much tax I should be saving. Great to see this thinly veiled attempt to help Canadians ( /s - win votes) is just going to be extra profit in the corporations’ pockets.
Yep, wanted to buy a certain piece of electronic and now it’s 450 instead of 400.
Having said that, another piece of electronic that has very low demand didn’t increase in price.
Personally I don’t see a point cause if something is not in demand, chances are people can delay buying it or just not buy it if they don’t have the money.
And this is why any attempt to “fight” affordability that doesn’t include plans to kneecap corporations is effectively useless and a waste of time.
It is also just a break, and the fact the governmnet calls it a break is acknowledgement of the issues with corporate greed in this country. Struggling Canadians will go right back to struggling as soon as the break is over, if they can even find a way to benefit from it. It isn’t a solution and its barely even a bandaid. The government is taking a tax dollar hit that could be used for other programs like welfare, food banks, public transit, or create anti oligarch/anti monopoly policies. We could invest in a national nonprofit groccer to help make food more accesible for struggling canadians.
Instead the government is giving a blanket “break” so that everyone from the poor to the ultra wealthy is inspired to give into capitalism and consummerism and spend even more money while ensuring only the already wealthy capitalists benefit from it.
It seems like the only thing which could stop them from screwing consumers is hard limits on the profit margins they can charge.
There are a few points this brings to mind about the whole “tax holiday”.
Would people rather the tax be eliminated and services have to be cut to match the lost revenue, but still pay the same price and have that revenue stream pad corporate pockets? (It’s always the corporation that fucks you)
Will people complaining about how little they will save realize just how insignificant most taxes are on daily life? Especially for low income people who receive a rebate on these taxes in the form of GST, provincial, and other tax rebates. (I am low income and get about 2k in rebates from these per year)
If pp, as he claims he will do, axes the taxes, how do you think that will benefit you when the corps raise the prices to match and you now have to pay out of pocket to see you doctor or visit the ER, or pay tolls on every road, or your municipal taxes are hiked (blame shifting), etc.
Tolls on every road isnt the wosrt idea. Roads are massively subsidizsed and most places cannot afford their upkeep because driving has been artificially cheap for a very long time. I’d have a hard time actually supporting tolls or congestion pricing until alternatives like high speed rail exist, but the conept of making drivers pay more would overall be a good thing for society and municpal budgets.
Drivers increase healthcare costs through accidents, so less driving saves on healthcare. They technically increase healthcare costs through a more sedantry lifestyle too, but that metric is hard to measure. City budgets are constantly wasted on adding more lanes that never actually fix traffic, and our lanes are often wider than they need to be, adding even more costs to construction and maintaince.
Most prices are set by what people will pay rather then by what things cost.
