Payments Begin – Ontario Sales Tax Credit

Written by Ontario Newsroom on 05 August 2010

Putting more money in the hands of Ontario families

About 3.1 million Ontario families and individuals will soon benefit from Ontario Sales Tax Credit payments.

Starting next week, eligible low- to middle-income Ontarians will receive the first of quarterly payments that will provide them with up to $260 annually for each adult and child. This is in addition to the existing federal GST credit.

Ontario has modernized an outdated, 50-year-old tax system. Ontario’s tax plan includes permanent income tax cuts for families and businesses, the new permanent Ontario Sales Tax Credit and the implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).

The tax plan also benefits Ontarians by providing:

A permanent income tax cut on the first personal income tax bracket, benefiting 93 per cent of income tax payers as of January 1, 2010.
Ontario Sales Tax Transition Benefit payments, providing up to $1,000 to most families or up to $300 for most single people.

About 83 per cent of consumer spending will see no change in tax as a result of the HST. This tax package is a key component of the five-year Open Ontario plan, which supports job creation and enhances the programs and services, including education, health care and skills training, that Ontarians value.

QUICK FACTS

Ontario is providing a total of $11.8 billion over three years in direct payments and permanent personal tax relief to help Ontarians adjust to the HST.
Ontario now has the lowest income tax rate of all provinces on the first $37,106 of taxable income.
A study by taxation expert Jack Mintz estimated that Ontario’s tax plan, together with other recent tax changes, will help create almost 600,000 net new jobs over the next decade.