Ontario begins HST tax credit payments

Nipissing MPP Monique Smith
News Release

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About 3.1 million Ontario families, including eligible families in Nipissing, will soon benefit from Ontario Sales Tax Credit payments.

Starting next week, eligible low and middle-income Ontarians will receive the first of quarterly payments that will provide them with up to $260 annually for each adult and child. This is in addition to the existing federal GST credit.

Ontario has modernized an outdated, 50-year-old tax system. Ontario’s tax plan includes permanent income tax cuts for families and businesses, the new permanent Ontario Sales Tax Credit and the implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).

The tax plan also benefits Ontarians by providing:

• A permanent income tax cut on the first personal income tax bracket, benefiting 93 per cent of income tax payers as of January 1, 2010.

• Ontario Sales Tax Transition Benefit payments, providing up to $1,000 to most families or up to $300 for most single people.

About 83 per cent of consumer spending will see no change in tax as a result of the HST. This tax package is a key component of the five-year Open Ontario plan, which supports job creation and enhances the programs and services, including education, health care and skills training, that Ontarians value.

“This credit will help those who need it the most,” said Nipissing MPP Monique Smith. “The credit is part of our tax reform package that will help to build a stronger economy and more jobs which will benefit all Ontarians.”

QUICK FACTS

• Ontario is providing a total of $11.8 billion over three years in direct payments and permanent personal tax relief to help Ontarians adjust to the HST.

• Ontario now has the lowest income tax rate of all provinces on the first $37,106 of taxable income.

• A study by taxation expert Jack Mintz estimated that Ontario’s tax plan, together with other recent tax changes, will help create almost 600,000 net new jobs over the next decade.

LEARN MORE

Read Ontario’s Tax Plan for Jobs and Growth: Technical Paper on How the Tax Changes Affect People

Get the full list of what’s taxable under the HST and what’s not

Get the online application for mobile devices

Learn more about the HST and Ontario’s Tax Plan for Jobs and Growth at www.ontario.ca/taxchange

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