The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) obtained new information through the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RTI) that shows the HST hike that kicks in on July 1st is going to take a big chunk out of New Bruswickers’ wallets and promised tax credits won’t cover the costs for average working families. 

Numbers obtained from the New Brunswick Department of Finance show that of the 331,309 households in the province, 225,361 - or 68 per cent - will pay more tax even after the HST credits are factored in.

“HST tax credits will not fully shield middle class working families from the brunt of the tax hikes,” says Kevin Lacey, Atlantic Director with the CTF.

Tax credits will only shield taxpayers with a household income up to $40,000. Above that, households will pay more tax. Raising the HST will cost a working family on average about $440 more in HST even after tax credits are calculated.

After the budget was introduced, the government spent thousands of dollars advertising the benefits of the HST tax credit, but didn’t tell New Brunswickers what the cost of the tax hike would be.

“The government spent thousands of dollars to advertise the benefits of the new HST tax credit, but they left out that working taxpayers are going to pay a heck of a lot more tax,” added Lacey.

The hike in the HST is the second major tax increase in the past 3 years. The previous Conservative government raised income taxes and those increases cost a taxpayer earning $60,000 about $796.

The document obtained by the CTF can be found HERE.