Edmonton business owners prepare for GST break

With a federal GST holiday on certain items taking effect this Saturday, some local business owners in Edmonton say, they would have liked more communication from the feds.

“We basically have to go through thousands of line items for all our products, and determine if those items are exempt or not — so that’s what I’ve been doing the last few days,” said Kathleen Wolff, Owner, Folk and Whimsy.

Wolff runs a baby apparel and accessory store in south Edmonton.

As many small business owners in the city and across the country, she’s been preparing for a federal two-month GST break that kicks in December 14th, part of which applies to baby clothes and diapers, as well as some children’s toys.

“The announcement from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau late last month caught her off guard, adding there was little time and guidance from Ottawa or her accountant. Adding it means more administrative work at one of the busiest times of the year.

“Today I’m going through things and trying to decide, toys in particular, some are exempt, some aren’t. There’s some interpretation to the classifications and deciding if a bath toy that looks like a fish will be included,” said Wolff.

In addition to those items, the GST break also applies to food from restaurants and catering, wine and beer, video games and consoles, jigsaw puzzles, physical copies of books, and even physical copies of newspapers, among others.

Wolff telling CityNews, ideally, there wouldn’t be GST charged on necessary items for babies and young families already.

The federal GST exemption also applying to HST, Wolff says she questions how much of an impact that will have in a province that famously doesn’t have a provincial sales tax.

“Right now, I’m not seeing people holding off. I don’t if Alberta saving five per cent is a big enough incentive for people to wait to shop,” said Wolff.