Mr. Speaker, this evening I rise to expand upon a question I put to the Minister of National Revenue on April 25. At that time I raised the question of a ways and means bill which pertained to the issue of notional taxes, the GST on used cars.
The previous day the minister had presented a ways and means bill including 100 proposals for the improvement of our GST. The GST has been a tax which has caused so much difficulty for business.
For the most part Canadians never new that what is called a notional tax was even in existence. It was not in the vocabulary of most people. The fundamental change of the notional input tax credit was one of the major changes. I felt it was important for Canadians to realize that this important change was made in the bill.
The way the GST was collected on used goods was certainly one which was of great concern to many, many people. It was an instrument of the tax system that was clearly not understood by the majority of Canadians. When the issue was raised Canadians simply did not understand it.
In the case of the auto industry, prior to the change, a person buying a new vehicle paid GST on the full retail price. With the changes announced by the minister, the GST now only applies to the trade-in difference. This is a substantial saving of tax for those who apply the trade-in value to the purchase of their new vehicle.
One element that remains unaddressed is the issue of curbside trade which continues to flourish in this country. Many curbside shops are still operating. They buy used products from private individuals and resell them. Of course, these people are not subject to the GST. We must address this. The point of my concern is that these people do not collect GST on their business transactions. In so doing, they directly compete against many storefront operations. This is an unfair advantage.
As I conclude my remarks, I would like to say that the unfair practice will only end when the province of Ontario joins with all provinces in the harmonization of our provincial and federal taxes.
I would like to ask the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance if he would deal with this issue. What efforts are being made through the business community to ensure early harmonization by the province of this aforementioned tax?