Marking its 13th annual Gas Tax Honesty Day, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is renewing its call for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stop the practice of charging H/GST on top of provincial and federal gas taxes - the tax-on-tax.
"At one time Stephen Harper's Conservatives were committed to ending the nefarious practice of charging the GST on the entire pre-tax price of gasoline and the provincial and federal gas taxes, we're hoping he still feels the same way," said CTF National Research Director Derek Fildebrandt.
In 2004, the Conservative Party wrote in a national news release: "The fastest and easiest way to give Canadians relief at the pump is for the federal government to stop charging GST on top of gasoline excise taxes. It's time to axe the tax on the tax."
Every year around the May long-weekend, the CTF holds its Gas Tax Honesty Day as a reminder to motorists that nearly 30% of the price at the pump is taxes, many of them hidden. In addition, the CTF today released calculations detailing gas tax breakdowns in every province. The calculations show:
Federal and provincial tax-on-tax scheme cost Canadians 2.4 cents/litre;
The average two car family will pay approximately $1,100 in gas tax every year;
Taxes make up nearly 30 per cent of the pump price of gasoline; and that
There is a strong positive correlation between lower pump prices in provinces with lower taxes on gas.
Speaking from a gas station in Ottawa, Ontario, Fildebrandt stated, "At a time when Canadians are paying sky-high prices at the pump, there is something that government can do and it's not calling a committee to hold a bunch of political talk. It's cutting some of the 29 per cent tax that it levies on drivers."
"We can reasonably debate what the appropriate level of taxation should be, but charging tax-on-tax is nearly criminal," said Fildebrandt.
The CTF calculations also found that provinces with lower gas taxes see most of those savings passed on to consumers. "The evidence is clear: lower gas taxes mean lower pump prices," said Fildebrandt. "Don't let politicians fool you into thinking that cutting gas taxes won't result in relief at the pump."
The CTF held Gas Tax Honesty Day events in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Saint John.
