How many of you have paid attention to the recent provincial budget? The matter that should concern each one of you the most is the expansion of the PST. Soon you will see the expanded 6% sales tax apply to concerts, cultural and sporting events, movies and fees paid to enter attractions. Most basic entertainment and fun activities will soon cost 6% more.
Just to make it clear why you should be annoyed about this taxation move, here is what you find online: "Some examples of types of charges that will become PST taxable include, but are not limited to:
- admissions to sporting events, concerts and shows, movie theatres, museums, zoos and historical sites - admissions to fairs, rodeos, trade shows, arts and craft shows
- admissions to conferences and seminars
- professional theatre tickets and subscriptions
- gym, golf and curling fees and memberships and hunting and fishing guide fees and outfitter services"
This is an indefensible tax grab. It is an awful idea for many reasons. First of all, we have just come through 2 very difficult pandemic years where entertainment was not part of our lives. Life was very restricted and we are now finally starting to participate again. We all need the resumption of sporting events, concerts and social activities. We all enjoy going to Saskatchewan RUSH games, RIDER games, hockey games, concerts, movies and museums. All of these will soon cost you 6% more.
Can you explain to me why a government should tax “enjoyments”?
Think how this tax impacts tourism. Soon visitors to Saskatchewan will have to fork out an extra 6% if they want to attend ticket events in our province or just visit a museum or local attraction. It doesn't seem fair and it sure doesn't present our province as tourist friendly.
Consider our local movie theatre here in Assiniboia? It is struggling to keep operating. Now our government is going to penalize people who enjoy a movie and want to support our theatre. Shame. Shame !!!
Assiniboia has a new $17.5 million arena under construction. It is scheduled for completion by August and will open for the next hockey season soon after. Everyone is excited about this grand new addition to our community. But hockey fans will now be subject to a new 6% charge when they purchase their season pass or individual ticket. Wow. What a way to initiate a new building and local hockey season.
You will pay the PST on your admission to cultural events. That means an extra 6% levy on the Assiniboia Arts Council concerts at the Prince of Wales. How does a government rationalize that?
We all know that we should stay as active as possible. Well people will pay an extra 6% to go for a swim at our local swimming pool. Can you believe that there will be a 6% tax charge for those going to the gym to work out? Those who enjoy golfing will have to fork out an extra 6%. Curlers will have to cough up the 6% PST too.
No matter how hard I try, I cannot see the wisdom in applying the PST to activities that are being recommended and encouraged by health officials. I would welcome an explanation as to how our government justifies taxing healthy life style behavior.
Think about the impact on clubs, community groups and local associations that host/organize events. Each one will now be expected to collect the PST and then forward it to the provincial government. This will mean extra work and cost and turn these organizations into tax collectors for the provincial government. Another burden from this tax.
One must note how inflationary this expanded PST is going to be. The 6% tax will mean that several DOLLARS will be added to the cost of most tickets/fees. In addition, you can expect that fractional dollars will get “rounded up” to the next dollar to make transactions simpler to manage.
The Finance Minister in her comments suggested that the money collected from this expansion of the PST will be used to clear the surgical wait list. Prime Minister Trudeau recently announced more funding to help with the backlog in surgical procedures. I believe Saskatchewan will receive about $60 million dollars. Surely that is sufficient money to deal with that issue.
Since this government took office, the PST has been expanded and applied to the purchase of used autos, your auto insurance premiums, your house insurance premiums, to labor charges and to your restaurant meals. Every time you have a coffee or a burger at A&W, you pay the PST. And now the PST is being broadened to entertainment and activities/events.
This expansion is unacceptable. It is WRONG. This government should be embarrassed for bringing in such a harmful budget plan.
This expanded PST is supposed to take effect Oct. 1, 2022. That day Robin Hood (Premier Moe) will come galloping out of Sherwood Forest at the Legislature and start looting your wallet when you go out for fun. One thing is for sure. You will not feel the full impact of this expanded tax until you have lived through 2023. Then you will need a high powered calculator to add up all the extra PST you paid to have fun and enjoyment for that year.
In summary, this expanded PST fails the common sense test. Think back to when the PST was temporarily applied to Blue Cross and GMS health care premiums and wisely removed when the very negative impact became apparent. This is no different.
We deserve better. So here is a recommendation. Cancel the expansion of the PST and toss that entire idea into the trash bin and leave it there. The government can explain the cancellation by telling the people of this province that they will use the $60 million from the federal government instead to fix the backlog in surgeries.
And then we all can go back to enjoying tax free events and activities. We deserve that. Agree?
Jim Stangel
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
