The North York-based Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) has come out strong against provincial plans to harmonize GST and PST, pointing out that Sudbury would see a substantial increase in housing costs.
With the provincial government continuing to float the idea of meshing the two taxes into a single tax, BILD argues that rebates available to new housing would be wiped out under a harmonized tax.
In a study recently released by the group, researchers broke down the sales taxes for new housing in a variety of Ontario cities, including Hamilton, London, Ottawa, Waterloo, Windsor, and Sudbury.
In Sudbury, sales taxes currently account for 5.9 per cent of the cost of a single-detached house, or a median total of $15,295.
Under a harmonized sales tax with no provincial rebate for new housing, that percentage would reach 11.2 per cent of a house's price tag in Sudbury, to reach $28,339. This would translate to a $13,044 increase.
However, BILD is also advocating for a 36 per cent provincial rebate for new housing. If this was also imposed, sales taxes would settle at 8.3 per cent, which translates to $21,052. The increase in taxes from current levels would then be $5,757, according to the study.
