Tax holiday could become a hot mess for businesses, CFIB warns – National [Video]

A temporary “tax holiday” could prove to be a “hot mess” for small businesses preparing to implement the new measure this week, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

The Liberal legislation is set to go into effect on Saturday, slashing the goods and services (GST) or harmonized sales tax (HST) from dozens of items, including certain groceries.

The two-month tax break will save taxpayers an estimated $1.5 billion, and will reduce that amount from federal revenues, the parliamentary budget officer (PBO) said in a costing note published Monday.

The PBO’s estimate is in line with the federal government’s, which put the cost of the tax relief down to roughly $1.6 billion.

The four Atlantic provinces and Ontario have their own provincial and federal sales tax lumped into the HST. The PBO said the “tax holiday” could cost the federal government an additional $1.26 billion if those provinces did not waive the compensation required …