The Wealthy Barber

[Radnine]

I went in to the barber shop the other day and saw that there is a new price list to reflect the HST. Haircuts have gone up two bucks (from $12 to $14).

Now, I kind of don't get too upset about the tax, for a bunch of reasons. But I do get a bit miffed when the barber, that only takes cash and likely only declares enough of his income so that he can write off everything that he has ever purchased, passes on the tax that the government will likely never see, onto me!

Thanks for listening.

Jim

PS. I fished the Tecumseh Reef last night for an hour or so and didn't catch squat.

[Jer]

You should have asked him why the price went up two bucks when 8% of $12 is only 96 cents. Who is the other $1.04 for?

[JohnF]

I went in to the barber shop the other day and saw that there is a new price list to reflect the HST. Haircuts have gone up two bucks (from $12 to $14).

Now, I kind of don't get too upset about the tax, for a bunch of reasons. But I do get a bit miffed when the barber, that only takes cash and likely only declares enough of his income so that he can write off everything that he has ever purchased, passes on the tax that the government will likely never see, onto me!

Thanks for listening.

Jim

PS. I fished the Tecumseh Reef last night for an hour or so and didn't catch squat.

 

There will be a lot of entrepreneurial types jumping on the price bandwagon right now. They're all figuring the increase will be blamed on the guvmint.

 

JF

[SBCregal]

how long were his prices set at 12 bucks? an increase in price seems pretty fair to me every once in a while.

[bigfish1965]

I saw a few places that increased their prices on things that were already fully taxed and blamed it on the HST. I told one store owner yesterday I wasn't an idiot and since he was clearly not trustable I would not be returning.

[Toronto_Angler]

14 dollars for a haircut is not a big deal. He's just a small business owner trying to make a living. I'm sure he's not getting wealthy and just trying to support his family.

[splashhopper]

$14.00 for a haircut is still a darned good price. Unless of course u have fur toilet set for a hairline

[TennesseeGuy]

Small business owners will see an increased cost of doing business because of new taxes. They must adjust their prices in order to stay open.

 

Tax an item more and fewer people will buy it.

[DanD]

I run a small business and so far I haven’t raised any of my pricing (yet) because of the HST but I feel we’ll have to.

Right off the top next year it’s going to cost me an extra $1500.00 to do business.

As a collector of PST we were given 5% of what we collected, up to $1500.00 a year for collecting and remitting the tax.

Well that’s now gone with the HST; but we still have the same work in collecting the tax and remitting it. (never did get anything for collecting, tracking and remitting GST)

Where else am I going to get this money back other then raising pricing.

The government wins all around; they’re not paying anyone for collecting the tax plus they’ll be getting extra tax form the increased pricing.

In my opinion all they (the government) are doing is making people think of doing something they haven’t done much of in a long time; black market, under the table dealings.

I get asked daily if I’m willing to not write an invoice for my labour and of course I say no; wouldn’t want to defraud the tax man now would I?????

 

Dan.

[jjcanoe]

Small business owners will see an increased cost of doing business because of new taxes. They must adjust their prices in order to stay open.

 

Tax an item more and fewer people will buy it.

 

BUT...BUT...BUT..... The government told us that it would HELP small businesses????? If we can't believe the government who are we to belive???

 

 

jjcanoe

[Radnine]

how long were his prices set at 12 bucks? an increase in price seems pretty fair to me every once in a while.

 

 

14 dollars for a haircut is not a big deal. He's just a small business owner trying to make a living. I'm sure he's not getting wealthy and just trying to support his family.

 

 

$14.00 for a haircut is still a darned good price. Unless of course u have fur toilet set for a hairline

 

Are you guys getting the fact that the government will never see this money? You, nor your loved ones will never likely benefit from what the barber takes in, cause he doesn't declare it.

Jim

Edited July 3, 2010 by Radnine

[TennesseeGuy]

Are you guys getting the fact that the government will never see this money? You, nor your loved ones will never likely benefit from what the barber takes in, cause he doesn't declare it. Jim

 

That's a pretty strong accusation. Would you welcome the opportunity to prove it?

 

You must really hate the barber.

[JohnF]

$14.00 for a haircut is still a darned good price. Unless of course u have fur toilet set for a hairline

 

Hey! Easy there.

 

JF

[Gerritt]

you wouldn't be talking about the barber in Mount hope would you....

[Toronto_Angler]

Are you guys getting the fact that the government will never see this money? You, nor your loved ones will never likely benefit from what the barber takes in, cause he doesn't declare it.

Jim

 

I don't care that the government may not see it (False accusation without proof btw). A barber works hard and I think he deserves 14 dollars for his services.

 

If you are a small business owner you would understand how hard it is to make a go of it and if you followed the rules to a T you wouldnt eat. If you arent a smalll business owner then you wouldn't understand.

[grt1]

here's another twist on the hst.

 

a guy I work with takes a taxi to work every shift. He told me this afternoon that his normal fare from his house to work is $6.50.

 

today he said the taxi driver told him the fellow was in to adjust the meters in the cabs to reflect the hst and his cost today $9.35

 

now I thought the hst was to replace the pst and gst into onetax, so if he wasn't paying pst or gst before the most the fare should have gone up would be $.98 , so who's making the extra or are they taxing on top of tax?

[DRIFTER_016]

here's another twist on the hst.

 

a guy I work with takes a taxi to work every shift. He told me this afternoon that his normal fare from his house to work is $6.50.

 

today he said the taxi driver told him the fellow was in to adjust the meters in the cabs to reflect the hst and his cost today $9.35

 

now I thought the hst was to replace the pst and gst into onetax, so if he wasn't paying pst or gst before the most the fare should have gone up would be $.98 , so who's making the extra or are they taxing on top of tax?

 

Actually the fare should have gone up $0.52 as they were already charging GST at 5% so it should have increased another 8% max. But the taxi company being the gougers that they are raised the price 44% and blame it on the gubberment 'cause they think everyone who rides in their cabs is a product of cousins marrying and doesn't know how to figger their numbers.

[splashhopper]

Hey! Easy there.

 

JF

 

 

Yeah, fourteen bucks does seem a little steep ( based on your profile pic)

[John Bacon]

Small business owners will see an increased cost of doing business because of new taxes. They must adjust their prices in order to stay open.

 

Tax an item more and fewer people will buy it.

 

Actually many businesses will see a decrease in their cost of doing business. For example, prior to July 1st a barber would have had to pay PST on his barber chair, scissors, trimmers, and any other equipment and supplies that they required for their business. Now these are effectively tax free due to input tax credits.

 

They should be able to reduce their pretax prices; this does not necessarily decrease the after tax prices.

[JohnF]

Actually many businesses will see a decrease in their cost of doing business. For example, prior to July 1st a barber would have had to pay PST on his barber chair, scissors, trimmers, and any other equipment and supplies that they required for their business. Now these are effectively tax free due to input tax credits.

 

They should be able to reduce their pretax prices; this does not necessarily decrease the after tax prices.

 

That's the key point that a lot of folks don't understand. I believe the government is saying it might take as long as 5 years for the system to catch up with the already paid 8% tax which sounds like a handout to business to get them onside from the gitgo. The truth is that many businesses will see it as an opportunity to pad an extra 8% margin into their pricing as long as the government is taking the heat anyway. We asked the minister what the government was doing to pressure the business world to be fair about reflecting the tax savings in the end user pricing. His reply was naive at best.

 

JF

[Radnine]

That's a pretty strong accusation. Would you welcome the opportunity to prove it?

 

You must really hate the barber.

 

I love the barber he is a great guy. I also love the waitress at the local boozer and I know that she only claims about 1/4 of her income. The difference is that she is not raising the price of beer because of the HST. And no, $14 is not a princely sum. It's just to use a tax hike as a reason, then not to.....nevermind

 

 

you wouldn't be talking about the barber in Mount hope would you....

 

No way Gerritt. Rick would never over charge. Lull you to sleep with his mellow whispers, yes, but not over charge and under declare.

 

I don't care that the government may not see it (False accusation without proof btw). A barber works hard and I think he deserves 14 dollars for his services.

 

If you are a small business owner you would understand how hard it is to make a go of it and if you followed the rules to a T you wouldnt eat. If you arent a smalll business owner then you wouldn't understand.

 

Okay, I give up.

Jim

[TC1OZ]

Okay, I give up.

Jim

 

If you can't beat em, join em! But I'm in the same boat as you and just mumble to myself. This rat race for the all mighty dollar doesn't interest me what so ever.

[bigugli]

We don't get to charge HST on food stuffs we grow , but in the short term, the HST is costing more to do business every day. If we raised the prices to reflect increased costs, you folks would just buy more of that cheap pesticide saturated crap from Mexico.

Not all small businesses benit from the HST.

[fish_fishburn]

Leave the poor barber alone man. If your too cheap to drop 14 bucks on a haircut, get the wife to cut it for you. 14.00 is reasonable, and he has to eat too. The only difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is a week.

[Paully]

Plastic bags at the grocery store are now 6 cents and not 5