Ontarians will start receiving their HST transitional payments as early as next week, CTV News has confirmed.
The HST, which harmonizes the province's Retail Sales Tax with the federal GST for a combined rate of 13 per cent, starts applying broadly on July 1.
The Liberal government has admitted it will take money out of Ontarians' pockets in the early years, but eventually, Ontario businesses should pass their savings on to residents in the form of reduced prices.
To ease the sting, the province got $4.3 billion from the federal Conservatives. That money is being used to fund the transitional payments. The money will be sent on June 10.
If you are a single parent or a couple with a combined income of less than $160,000, you will get a payment of $330. Single individuals with incomes of less than $80,000 will receive $100.
It will be delivered by mail or as a direct deposit to your bank account, however you received your annual tax refund (to get the payment, you had to file an income tax return for 2009).
Other payments will come in December and in June 2011. A total of $2.8 billion is scheduled to flow out in 2010.
The money will not count as taxable income.
An estimated 6.6 million people are eligible for the rebates.
Both the Progressive Conservatives and the NDP have tried to characterize the payments as a bribe and say that money will run out long before the HST does.
However, when the government introduced the tax in its 2009 budget, it also announced personal and corporate income tax cuts. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan claimed at the time that the changes, taken together, should be revenue-neutral for the government.
Economists have said that a harmonized sales tax is one of the most important things the province can do to make its business environment more competitive.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss
