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THE HERALD Wednesday clobrr25 I98H GST is proving a hard sell lit ItHllHIV Diane Your finance Minister M s goods servicer tax proving to be a hard idea to sell a people balk at the prosrwci becoming tax collectors Hairdressers to huvmp add an extra nine per to their bills funeral directors the tax will push the cost of burial out range of some people forcing them to be laid to rest at public expense Behind of these com plaints is the fear of resistance People who to tax on a haircut decide to skip the tip Those who face an extra nine per cent on an tax burdened restaurant bill ma decide to eat at home But collection is a problem Tax resisters say the GST will force more businesses into the alread thriving underground economy Hairdressers will start cutting hair in their homes rather than their shops to avoid the extra nine- per cent levy for example The tax avoidance business will boom Provincial governments have added greatly to the problem bv refusing to cooperate with tawa forcing the federal govern ment to set up its own expensive taxcollecting department What can the finance minister do Well he could have raised in come taxes instead of imposing the GST This would have punished in come and saving rather than ding Or he could have imposed a luxury tax taxing only expensive or unnecessary goods the problem of definition would have been ting Or he could have cut spending something that seems to be politically impossible We the peo- in the fnmllv in in fnmtl i Pension People who work for an to insurance for man months the stop working regardles el their savings We spend the government forgetting that thi public purse is replenished from our own pockets Still it is too bad the GST is turning out to be such an administrative nightman for government and business ahke Small businesses in particular will be hurt But if we don adopt it our ex ports will suffer If we fall behind in world trade our position will be even worse than is now Our eroding standard living will nosedive the currencv will fall and people will be thrown out of work Mr Wilson s original plan was a good one Everything would have been taxed even food and the pro vinces would have collected the GST along with their sales taxes Politics got in the way so we will have to suffer the consequences Had food been taxable the rate would have been lower Part of the reason for the resistance is that nine per cent will make a big dif in the cost of services Meanwhile the Finance Depart ment is pondering over the me in the system used cars sold privately will not be taxed those sold from a lot will be Pizza from a pizza parlor will be taxed while pizza from a grocery store will not In the end Mr Wilson may have to pare a percentage point or so from the tax to make it saleable He may have had this in mind all along A seven per cent tax would be much easier to defend Besides he can always raise later OFFICE MAGIC FOR ALL YOUR OFFICE STATIONERY NEEDS 136C Guelph St Georgetown STEVEN C FOSTER BALLB BARRISTER SOLICITOR 37 MAIN ST SOUTH GEORGETOWN ONT L7G 3G2 el 41 68734961 fax 4168734962 Chequing in The Georgetown and District Memorial Hospital a shot in the arm last when Region imilnbuled SI fiJ million for the hospitals recently approved expansion could he another HHoo b the end the Left lo right are hospital executive director Mark hospital board chairman Graeme Regional finance commissioner Joe and Regional Chairman Peter Herald photo SPECIAL BEST PERFORMER 808810 K RAM Floppy Philips Monitor 107500 Call Bill Fournler at Specializing in affordable PCs Software Peripherals for home and small business use Phone Fox Communication Inc u 8770109 877 J Simon CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT Phone Georgetown Ontario 8770109 Less is more masonic totally rt design network an iver yet packed with all tin desirabfc features Convertible to fixed in car for longer rv lift Built in battery trickle Battery changing without dropping nils All a surprisingly rcasoniblo trier vmi mount irrj in With the proven reliability of making all the right connections Sec them today ask for anything ltv Panasonic The Perfectionists In Business for Business V W I IOC to Friday CANON PRINTING CALCULATORS list spec P22DX FL COLOUR DESK TOP PRINTER IWV5 TTTTTT ASK For Your Copy Of Our Monthly Flyer For All Our Specials LS32 CANON HANDHELD CALCULATORS LIST DISPLAY BATTERY SJ6 DISPLAY SOLAR EA PORTABLE PLAY 1393