Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) CEO Dan Kelly says the two-month federal sales tax break is already costing small businesses thousands of dollars.The “GST Holiday,” championed by the Trudeau Liberals and slammed by the Conservatives, takes effect December 14 and lasts eight weeks. It includes select Christmas items, children’s toys, restaurant tabs, alcoholic beverages and prepared grocery store meals..Trudeau’s ‘GST holiday’ doubles federal budget hole. Tory leader Pierre Poilievre has criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his “two-month tax trick” when his carbon tax continues to increase, with the latest hike six weeks later, on April 1, 2025. Kelly speaking to the Inside the Village podcast over the weekend said Trudeau’s short-lived frivolous tax break lacks parameters and has left small and medium business owners scrambling to reprogram their systems. He highlighted a laundry list of reasons Trudeau’s GST tax break hurts independent businesses. .‘TEMPORARY TAX TRICK’: Poilievre not buying Trudeau’s ‘GST Holiday’.One CFIB member told Kelly “their ancient point-of-sale system is going to cost them $2,000 to reprogram.”“They have to do it to take off the tax. Then they have to do it again to put the tax back on two months later. And then after that, on April 1, the carbon tax goes up by 19%, (the federal government is) going to make every product more expensive by adding a new, giant chunk to the carbon tax that wasn't there before.”.Another unforeseen issue that arose was customers taking advantage of the tax break with items already purchased. A CFIB member, a hobby store owner in Ontario, told Kelly customers who’ve already bought their kids toys for Christmas are returning them just to buy them again after December 14 minus the 5% GST..WATCH: Trudeau raked over coals for burning 300 tones of greenhouse gas to go to Brazil to tout carbon tax.To make matters worse, the Trudeau Liberals seem confused on what items are eligible under the tax break, specifically as pertains components of toys — for example, a model airplane is exempt because it’s a child’s toy. “But what about the glue that holds it together? What about the paint that people apply to the plane afterwards? Is that taxable or not?” said Kelly.“We've asked Ottawa. They can't tell us the answer.”Small businesses are also prevented from ordering goods online due to the Canada Post strike, slowing down the flow of business even more, said Kelly“It's a giant mess.”“There was virtually no concern given to the small- and medium-sized companies that are having to do this.”“So, as you can imagine, small business heads are spinning.”
