OTTAWA – That age old saying about “Death and Taxes” will have more meaning in Ontario starting on Canada Day. “On July 1st it will not only get more expensive to live in Dalton McGuinty’s Ontario, it will also get more expensive to die in Dalton McGuinty’s Ontario,” states Lisa MacLeod, MPP Nepean-Carleton, and Ontario PC Critic for Revenue and Government Accountability.
Come July 1st, 2010 Ontarians paying for funeral services will be forced to pay anywhere between $650-$1,300 in taxes for remembrance services.
On July 1st, funeral services will be subject to the harmonized sales tax which will mean additional costs to families grieving the loss of a loved one. Lawyer fees to administer a last will and testament, estate planning, floral arrangements, catering services and other funeral-related costs will now be subject to Dalton McGuinty’s harmonized sales tax.
Quick Facts:
- Come July 1st, 2010 when the HST is implemented, remembrance service items such as the cost of funeral services, monuments, cemetery plots and flowers will all see an 8 per cent tax hike at point of purchase.
- According to the Board of Funeral Services, the average cost of a funeral in Ontario is around $5,500 – but when you add up the flowers, reception, and casket that cost goes up to $9,000-$10,000.
- When the HST comes into effect later this year, a $5,000 funeral will cost $650 more in taxes, while a $10,000 funeral will cost $1,300 more.
- The National Citizens Coalition states the HST will cost the average Ontario family at least $1,000 more per year.
- In a poll, conducted for Canwest News Service by Ipsos Reid last December, more than 74 per cent of Ontarians oppose the implementation of the HST on July 1st. Ninety per cent of respondents said they believe the HST is nothing more than a “huge tax grab by the provincial government.”
