OTTAWA — Canada’s abrupt 180 on enacting its controversial Trudeau-era digital services tax is a win for consumers, one group claims.
In a statement issued late Sunday, the Consumer Choice Centre hailed Canada’s 11th-hour decision to scrap the Digital Services Tax (DST) as a win for consumers.
“The tax was mostly going to be paid by large U.S. tech firms, who were undoubtedly going to increase prices on Canadian consumers to cover the tax burden,” said David Clement, the centre’s North American Affairs Manager.
“This is a fact echoed by the Parliamentary Budget officer who said that it is ‘expected that businesses in the targeted sectors will adjust their services and prices in response to the new law.’ Avoiding that scenario is a big win for Canadian consumers.”
After weeks of denials and days of silence, the Finance Department late Sunday night announced the contentious Trudeau-era policy — which requires non-Canadian digital services with annual incomes of more than $1.1 billion to pay a 3% tax on revenues from Canadian users exceeding $20 million.
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