Maritime shoppers, stores get ready for HST, GST cut

Shoppers and staff at the stores at the Mayflower Mall in Sydney, N.S., spent Friday preparing for no GST or HST on some items; starting Saturday the two-month holiday tax break announced by the federal government goes into effect.

"Pretty busy, I'm expecting it to be pretty wild in here. I've had a lot of people already asking about it," said Christian Coombes, manager at the Soft Moc store inside the mall.

Coombes was also bracing himself for some misunderstandings surrounding the tax break. For example, within the company he works for, it applies only to children's footwear.

"I think there will be a lot of confusion because I've already had a lot of people assuming that it's going to be on all the adult stuff too, but it's not," Coombes said.

Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said many stores are hoping to avoid any tax break mix-ups for customers this weekend.

"Businesses are working in overdrive to try to figure out from a confusing bulletin which products this applies to and which it doesn’t,” Kelly said. “Every business in the country is going to have to change their computer system if they sell these products and they are going to have to do it tonight at the close of business.

“I have had business owners call me in tears asking me how they are going to sort through all of their products. I think that there are going to be some businesses that are not going to participate at all, others that are really going to struggle to comply and do their best.”

"To me, the value was shopping before," said Amanda Carroll, a Sydney mother of two. "Getting everything and having it under my tree for Christmas as opposed to saving the tax."

Carroll said it was worth paying a bit extra to have her shopping done before any stock ran out or before it became too late for an online order to arrive in time for Christmas.

"I was out last night because I'm trying to finish everything before tomorrow," Carroll said. "I went out last night and in one of the stores, there was nothing on the shelves already, and the tax break hasn't even hit yet."

Some things can be bought pretty much anytime and might be worth the wait.

"Certainly on the consumables (like groceries) and alcohol and things like that - certainly, they're going to wait for that," said retail analyst Bruce Winder.

Winder said its likely this tax break is a one-off, but he’s unsure if it will drive more business.

“My own personal opinion, I'd rather see targeted measures to help those who really need it versus disrupt the retail industry and create a lot of work for a lot of people," Winder said.

"It's going to be a madhouse regardless, this is just going to make it crazier. So I'll make sure to load up on coffee for me and my staff," Coombes said.

-With files from Emma Convey

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