Home builders concerned about HST rebates
Posted September 14, 2010 10:57 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association is very concerned about the government’s flat-out refusal to offer rebates to British Columbians if the HST is scrapped in next year’s referendum, saying it could affect housing starts and lead to job losses.
Peter Simpson with the association fears people may not buy new homes as they wait for the results of next September’s referendum. “It might stall some purchase decisions. If new home sales lag because of this, they won’t be built, and that will lose jobs.”
He says a rebate would be the easiest way to make sure that doesn’t happen. “If this thing is overturned a year from now, that the HST payable on the big ticket items, like on a new home, would be returned to the purchasers.”
He doesn’t buy Finance Minister Colin Hansen’s claim that rebates would be impossible because of administration, especially on a pricey item like a new home. “Surely Minister Hansen can find a way to rebate the HST on a new home. His tax department would have all the records of the transaction.”
He says the finance minister should also look at other ways of enticing new home buyers, like reducing the property transfer tax on new homes. Even if people buy older homes (which aren’t subject to the HST) instead, Simpson says jobs will still be lost because fewer new homes will be built.
