GST holiday and tax rebates – SFU experts available

The federal government has today announced a two-month GST holiday on some goods and services – including food and children’s clothing – and a $250 tax rebate, as they seek to ease the affordability challenges facing Canadians. The government will send $250 cheques to the 18.7 million people in Canada who worked in 2023 and earned $150,000 or less.

AVAILABLE SFU EXPERTS:

STEEVE MONGRAIN, professor, economics  
mongrain@sfu.ca
Expertise: Public economics, law and economics, taxation, economic policies

“The $250 rebate will help Canadian taxpayers. It applies to individuals earning less than $150,000, which helps target those needing it more. Personally, I would have lowered that threshold to $100,000 or $80,000 to give a higher rebate. It is problematic that it excludes the most vulnerable individuals who are not tax filers.

“The GST holiday is more political than a sound economic initiative. It will be onerous for retailers to administer it. Children's clothing is exempt, but not sports equipment. Beer under 7% is exempt, but over 7% is not. It will stimulate sales, but for some of the durable goods on the list, it will shift consumption timing. I would have done two rounds of rebate instead.”

ANDREY PAVLOV, professor, finance
apavlov@sfu.ca
Expertise: Real estate markets, housing affordability, B.C. and Canadian economy, interest rates, inflation

CONTACT

WILL HENDERSON, SFU Communications & Marketing 
604.368.2532 | will_henderson@sfu.ca

Simon Fraser University
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