Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on Monday promised if elected his government would cancel federal sales tax (GST) on new homes under $1 million. Without the GST, the Conservatives project an extra 30,000 homes would be built each year, generating more jobs in the construction sector. The party in a press release announced a “major plank” in Poilievre’s plan to build more homes for Canadians and “make life more affordable for Canadians who have suffered under nine years of (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau’s housing hell.”Poilievre said as prime minister, he would deliver on “Canada’s promise: that hard work earns a powerful paycheque that buys affordable food and homes in safe neighbourhoods.”The tax cut would save Canadians $40,000, the Tories estimate, or $2,200 per year in mortgage payments on a $800,000 house. “For a typical home in Ontario and British Columbia, this will result in savings of $43,225 and $48,160 respectively,” states the release. Further, Poilievre will push provinces to cancel their sales tax on new homes, saving homebuyers “tens of thousands of dollars more.” .The opposition leader called out the Liberal-NDP coalition government for doubling housing costs since taking power nine years ago. In October 2015, it required about 39% of the median pre-tax household income to cover home ownership costs, and now it’s up to 60%.“While it used to be normal for working class youth to buy homes, now 80% of Canadians tell pollsters homeownership is only for the very rich and there are now 1,400 homeless encampments in Ontario alone.”In Ontario and British Columbia, the provinces with the highest sales taxes, new homebuyers pay more than 30% in taxes, where the “federal government takes the biggest share.”“In Ontario, about 39% of the total taxes on a new home go to politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa,” states the release, “one such tax is the GST, adding $50,000 in costs to a $1 million home.”The Conservatives plan to fund the major tax cut by “eliminating $8 billion of bureaucratic programs that Liberals admit have not built a single home.” .The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is giving two thumbs up for Poilievre’s promise.“This tax cut would save families tens of thousands of dollars when they buy a new home,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Too often the federal government ramps up spending on housing programs that don’t work and waste taxpayers’ money. The best way for the federal government to make homes more affordable is to cut taxes for building homes.”The Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis estimates that taxes make up 31 per cent of the purchase price of a new home in Ontario, with sales taxes accounting for the largest share of the tax burden.“Cutting taxes is the best way for the federal government to make homes more affordable,” Terrazzano said. “Taxpayers are looking for plans from all parties and governments to cut taxes and make homes more affordable for Canadians.”
