Michael Calls for Home Heating Taxation To Stop

The New Democratic Party (NDP) for Newfoundland’s Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi district calls for taxation on home heating fuel to stop.

NDP Leader Lorraine Michael has called on the Finance Minister Tom Marshall to follow Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan by eliminating provincial sales tax on home heating fuel.

She says the home heating fuel is a necessity and should not be taxed.

In 2001, the Conservative Party (Tories) called for the removal of provincial sales tax on home heating oil and electric heat, saying it was unfair and unnecessary.

Michael says that now that the Tories are in office, it’s okay to make money off something people have to buy for survival.

Last week the Finance Minister announced a low-income home heating fuel rebate of up to $500 in Labrador.

She says the government has opposed cutting the provincial sales tax on home energy, saying that higher-income people can afford to pay it.

Michael says they don’t make high-income people pay sales tax on food, so what is the difference, they are both essential items.

Michaels adds that the eight per cent provincial sales tax on home heat may not seem like a lot on paper, but to a low income family it means many more days of heat through a cold winter.