Québec solidaire launches into the battle for the wallets of Quebecers. He promises to temporarily suspend the QST on thousands of products in the grocery, restaurant, clothing sales or repair services sectors, until inflation returns to normal.
Posted at 11:15 a.m.
The party’s objective is to act quickly to reduce the pressure on the savings of Quebec families struggling with bills inflated by inflation.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois therefore wants to commit to temporarily suspending the Quebec sales tax set at 9.975%. For the first year, he estimates that the cost of this measure will be 2 billion. This tax holiday will be maintained “until inflation returns to its normal level of 3%”, then withdrawn “gradually” to avoid shocks.
Products that would be zero-rated by QS are deemed essential: “food that is still taxed at grocery stores, clothing, restaurant meals, over-the-counter medications, body care products and repair services.” The measure would save “an average family about $1,100 a year.” Notice to motorists, gasoline would not, however, be zero-rated by the left-wing party.
Québec solidaire believes that its promise is more pragmatic than those of the CAQ and the PLQ, which reduce state revenues in the long term with permanent tax cuts. The party points out that the Quebec government will reap “over $600 million more in QST revenue than expected” this year because of inflation.
Help for businesses
Another advantage of this measure according to the party: it will be support for businesses, in particular restaurateurs. Higher prices due to inflation hurt sales. A tax reduction would therefore break this price effect.
List of products that QS wants to zero-rate:
- All food, whether purchased at a grocery store or at a restaurant (including meals prepared at the grocery store)
- All clothes
- Over-the-counter (non-prescription) medications
- Body care items and accessories (soap, deodorants, oral hygiene products, etc.)
- Repair services (cars, bicycles, computer equipment, household appliances, home repair, etc.)