this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2024
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Mildly Infuriating

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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.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 days ago

This is exactly what the “Taxation is theft” morons don’t understand. They think if the government no longer takes their cut, everybody will just have X amount of money more, and the market won’t just swallow that up without giving you a single thing in return.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 days ago

I think the answer here is to buy that somewhere other than WalMart. Are there any stores nearby that didn’t increase their price on the controller?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 days ago (1 children)

companies will 100% of the time do anything even illegal things to make more money.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago

that's the thing that pisses me off: the tax often increases the perception of how much people are willing to spend. even if you remove or decrease the tax, the companies just inflate the price to fatten their margins. Rule #1 of capitalism: the consumer always loses.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I would support Canadian Tire over Walmart.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The time that product spends on the shelves of a Canadian Tire is just a layover before its permanent move to a landfill. They are Coors quality at Heineken prices.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago

I bought a Husqvarna chainsaw from Canadian tire and it was garbage. I thought I was getting the same one my buddy got (he got his at the local kubota). Turns out Husqvarna just licenses out their name for the right price. It was a garbage chainsaw with orange plastic and the sticker was even upside down.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Do they sell xbox controllers?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 days ago

No, but Best Buy does. As does Canada Computers, Shoppers Drug Mart, Gamestop, etc. none of which are as bizzarely aggressive about nonsensical pricing schemes.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I am just really glad none of the crap I sell is included. The list and logistics to comply with this "holiday" is insane.

Lets say you run a liquor store:

  • Beer, cider, sake and wine are now not taxed
  • But wine, cider and sake over 22.9% is still taxed
  • Spirit coolers and premixed alcoholic beverages are now not taxed
  • Spirit coolers and premixed alcoholic beverages over 7% are still taxed
  • Gift boxes/baskets are taxed
  • Unless those boxes/baskets have more then 90% the value in beverages that meet the tax holiday requirements

This is not even opening the other categories (Oh don't even think about child car seat/strollers). The cost of this program on stores and taxpayers (the cost of it is payed by the lack of tax and also the tax collected being diverted to this program) is not worth the 5% off some people will see (since most places will just up the price 5%).

Edit: and as the radio just pointed out this is a tax break on mostly luxury goods so it only really helps the people who don't need the help. (the example given was a dinner party would be 5% cheaper but a single parent's heat is not).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It would cost thousands in labor to set up temporary tax rates based on alcohol content. Most systems have tax rates which apply to product categories, not alcohol content. Liquor store pos systems in the US, at least in my state, typically don’t even store the abv in the price book, which would make this taxation virtually impossible to comply with.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Yeap, this is Canada where stuff like this is rolled out in a month or so and businesses are just told to comply.

(Oh and those examples are from the Canada.ca official list not hyperbole)

Edit: it also comes with a friendly threat!

"Make a reasonable effort to comply

Businesses who make reasonable efforts to comply with the legislation will not be the focus of our compliance actions.

We will be focusing on situations where businesses willfully and egregiously refuse to comply with the temporary measures, such as a business that collects the GST/HST and does not remit it to the CRA."

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Crazy, they’re basically saying, ‘we know this is impossible so just do your best, as long as you remit everything you collect then it doesn’t really matter what/how you collect’.

This is very unfair to the small business because inevitably there will be some customers who will be pissed off when the store doesn’t collect properly, and small business won’t even come close to doing it correctly.

Making temporary short term massive changes to taxation is a very dumb idea. Canada must be drinking uncle Sam’s koolaid to be acting this foolish.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 days ago

Most people don't even care and did not know this even started, its just another failed attempt of the current government to gain support.

This one is extra silly, but the silver lining is that it has got people of drastically different political viewpoints something to agree on. You could have a talk show with the most rabid pundits from opposite sides discuss this and the only arguments would be what the worst part of this plan is.

There is also another component to this as well, everyone is supposed to get $250 in the mail (or direct deposit). And that's also just bad tax policy that has been made fun of in the past. On top of that they have not managed to actually pass legislation or even figured out how to do this at this point. Oh and the post office is still on strike.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago

Is that legal? (Am American - idk about Canadian legal strictures around that, but it definitely feels like it’d run afoul of some sort of consumer protection legislation or something like that)

[–] [email protected] 157 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

Kroger (grocery store) is doing the same thing this week. They're doing a 20% off "holiday bonus" discount on a one per-customer basis (20% off your entire order). The catch? Every item in the store is at least 20% more expensive than it was last week.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 week ago

dont expect it to go back down

[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Time to introduce the "lowest price from the last 30 days" requirement like in Europe.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Can you explain this? Never heard of it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago (2 children)

EU for online purchases mandates that the lowest price from the last 30 days be displayed alongside the actual price and discount. So they can't pull the "make the price higher and discount to a higher price than it used to be" trick, best they can do is make price higher and discount it to what it has always been. Which is pointless to them because they'll just get less sales in the month before. Also a month is enough time for the loss of sales to be significant that it isn't worth it to keep the price high to create a "bargain".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

Thanks this is really interesting. Literally hadn't heard of this before.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I'm guessing J.C. Penny's doesn't have EU stores?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

Ah, the very store that tried “no sales so we can give you year-round low prices”!

Until they found out we consumers ain't gonna buy unless somebody puts the word sale somewhere every once in a while.

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[–] [email protected] 108 points 1 week ago (14 children)

See, trickle down economics works ladies and gents /s

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[–] [email protected] 71 points 1 week ago (3 children)

the prices probably won't go back down in february, either.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

They may go down 3% for some products and they’ll make a big deal out of it.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Reminds me when Alberta reduced the tax on gas, and within a few weeks consumers were paying the same amount again

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 week ago

Tax credits are always a government gift to corporations.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 week ago (7 children)

In any reasonable country, that should be illegal. In many places it is

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 days ago

In Italy when the government reduced vat on ebooks from 22% to 4% not a single publisher passed the savings to the customer and they even increased the prices

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Might be betraying my age here, but do you remember when GST was 7%? EXACTLY the same thing happened.

GST breaks strictly pad the revenues of business AT THE COST of funds to the public purse. Does a fat fucking zero to the wallets of consumers.

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 week ago

Well the debate should be over whether the taxes cause things to be expensive or it's corporate greed causing things to be expensive.

Next time you see one of the ubiquitous Poilievre ads claiming it's taxes that's making things unaffordable, think about where the problems actually are.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 week ago

Seems like an opportunity to use this in attack PP's tax-cut rhetoric, and to attack the oft-repeated talking points from business that tax increases will be passed on to consumers.

Tax cuts are eaten by businesses, so long as the businesses believe that people will continue to buy. Tax increases will also be eaten by businesses, so long as the businesses believe that people will refuse to buy at a higher price. It's all being taken by or from shareholders.

It's a shame no political entities will actually touch this with anything more pointed or useful than "that's appalling!"

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