Central Labrador is a hub of activity and is set in one of the most beautiful regions of our province and country.

Feb 2025

On November 21, the Government of Canada announced a two-month limited-time break on sales tax on a set list of goods during the holiday season. This tax relief ends on February 15, 2025. In November, we asked you how this tax holiday would impact your business. Below is what we heard:

WHAT WE HEARD

Below are various comments from employers in Happy Valley-Goose Bay:

• The plan excludes the elderly who are not working and living on fixed incomes

• The plan is adding significant additional pressures on the retail sector during its busiest time (i.e. manually coding of hundreds of items, inventory control, record-keeping)

• The Government could have issued a separate HST rebate, accomplishing the same goal more effectively

• The tax relief will be a welcome break to many Indigenous tradespeople

• The Government must recoup these losses, likely on the back of the taxpayers

• This relief will help our most vulnerable demographic and their families

• The tax break should begin earlier on December 1

• The priority should have been discounts on vegetables, fruit, and meats to ensure a healthy population

• This will be expensive and time consuming for stores with automatic cash registers

• This relief would be more effective by eliminating the carbon tax or fuel surcharge for shipping items to help businesses lower prices on food and essentials

The general feedback is any type of tax break is a welcome announcement to Canadians, but without consultation with employers to understand the impact to their business, it is clear this announcement will create additional burdens on the retail sector during the busiest time of the year.

With businesses expected to remove the GST/HST on qualifying goods at checkout, the responsibility to implement this tax break falls to businesses. Also, with this tax break beginning on December 14, consumers will rush to purchase items in a very short timeframe before Christmas, adding additional pressures on staffing. Given current challenges to Labrador employers including the rising cost to doing business, fuel charges for shipping items, and overall recruitment and retention, we are concerned with this additional burden on the business community.

As always, we strongly encourage meaningful engagement with employers before and during the development of any government-led initiatives that will directly impact business operations.

SUBMIT YOUR FEEDBACK

Now with the tax holiday ending on February 15, we would like your feedback on whether this initiative encouraged and boosted spending at your business. Did you experience an increase to sales during the tax holiday period? Let us know by completing the form below, and we’ll share your feedback directly with government and our partners.