The Ontario government keeps up its PR campaign to convince provincial taxpayers the HST is a good thing now, saying it will "spark high-tech growth."
However Claude Haw, president and CEO of the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) -- which promotes growth in the tech sector -- tells CTV Ottawa, "It (the HST) won't have a significant impact on most tech businesses."
The Liberal news release from Friday says, "Businesses like software and IT companies ... are now receiving 13 per cent input tax credits for the HST they pay on things like hardware and software, servers and other business purchases. With costs down, companies are better able to ultimately create more jobs."
Haw says the biggest expense for tech firms is people. That cost is not part of the HST credit.
Haw adds, "For every dollar of expenses 10 per cent may go to external goods and services. Being able to claim 13 per cent instead of 5 per cent means that for every dollar, they claim 1.3 cents instead of 0.5 cents, a difference of 0.8 cents that isn't going to change buying or investment behavior, in my opinion."
He concedes the shift to HST will have an overall benefit, but cutting corporate taxes will have a "more significant impact."
