Beginning December 1, bicycles and bike helmets will be exempted from the 8% provincial retail sales tax in Ontario, Canada. "We want to encourage more Ontarians - young and young-at-heart - to get outdoors, spend time riding bikes as a family and with friends, or to try riding to work if possible, leaving the car at home," said Ontario Premier McGuinty.
The full details are at the Ontario Ministry of Revenue website. Bicycles purchased for under $1000 are exempt, as well as bike safety equipment such as helmets, reflectors, lights, bells, horns, and mirrors. Bike rental, bike parts, non-safety bike accessories and labor for repairs and assembly remain taxable.
Mentioned at Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (aka the BR&IN), Canadian Cyclist, Pedal Magazine.
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This is sort of lame by Canadian standards. British Columbia, for instance, has no provincial sales tax on bikes at all. For smaller Ontario bike shops, this means that they'll have to reprogram their point of sales systems to just charge taxes *sometimes*. This will be a pain for them. I fear that it will benefit the big bike sellers - Canadian Tire and Walmart - more than it will stimulate business for the small guys. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, but McGinty really should have gone a little further with this one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the additional info, Anon. I didn't know that about BC.
ReplyDelete...born & raised as a kid on a red raleigh during the '50's & '60's in ontario, my first thought was "oh, cool, those sensible canucks, what a great idea"...
ReplyDelete...but the second paragraph & the light shed on it by the first response reveals a different picture...
...kinda like the old dope dealer adage: the first one's for free, kid, then yer gonna pay...ya ride the cheapy 'til ya get interested & when ya wanna upgrade, yer gonna pay the full price...
...hopefully mc guinty will take the plunge & fully commit...
"Young and young-at-heart"? So the USA isn't the only country where bikes carry the stigma of being children's playthings? Weird, considering they say they're trying to encourage commuting. Oh well.
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