[ISL] "HST hike on P.E.I. coming Saturday"

[rfmcdonald]

CBC News' Sara Fraser notes that, Saturday, Prince Edward Island's HST--harmonized sales tax--will go up from 14 to 15%.

Islanders will soon be paying a little more for most products and services, as the P.E.I. government is about to raise the Harmonized Sales Tax by one percentage point on Saturday.

The HST will go from 14 per cent to 15 per cent, and the cost of living is expected to rise by about 0.5 per cent as a result.

"For most people that are financing and so forth they're looking at $2, $2.50 every couple of weeks," explained Ron Martin, the sales manager at Reliable Motors in Charlottetown.

The dealership advertised the tax hike, hoping it would entice customers to buy before October 1.

[. . .]

The increase will bring in an extra $11 million for this fiscal year and an additional $22 million in future years, according to the province — extra revenue that's necessary to simply maintain core services, it said.

I wonder what other options are available.