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Province releases HST list

The provincial government has released a comprehensive list of products and services that will be subject to the Harmonized Sales Tax, which comes into effect July 1.

The province published a 'What's Taxable and What's Not' list on its HST website today.

The Ontario government, which also introduces an HST this summer, had released a detailed list of what would be taxed and what wouldn't. Finance Minister Colin Hansen thought that was a good idea.

"When we saw what Ontario had done on and put up on their website I immediately said this makes sense, let's actually copy what Ontario's done," Hansen told CTV News on Wednesday.

The HST will extend to previously PST-exempt items including camping sites; newspapers; air, rail and bus travel originating in B.C.; landscaping, plumbing and electrical services; hockey tickets; golf memberships, and tomato plants.

Other products are eligible for instant rebates on the provincial portion of the HST, including children's clothing and fuels (gasoline, ethanol blends, diesel, biodiesel). That 7 per cent tax break is twice the level of the 3.5 per cent carbon tax, pointed out Guy Dauncey in a recent Tyee article.

Colleen Kimmett reports for The Tyee.

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