TORONTO, Ont. – The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) is lauding a provision in the provincial budget that will harmonize the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) with the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST).

It’s a move the association has been endorsing for years now, according to OTA president David Bradley.

“In a low margin industry like trucking, taxes on business inputs, which a company must pay whether it is generating a profit or not, are regressive,” said Bradley.

“Truckers, more than many other industries in Ontario, and certainly more than our competition from other parts of Canada and from the United States, where key business inputs such as tractors, trailers, parts, etc., are either eligible for GST-type credits or are exempt from sales tax, have had to endure a situation where the more the more they invest in equipment that is more efficient, more productive, safer and more environmentally-friendly, the more tax they have had to pay.”

Harmonization will also free truckers from having to pay provincial tax on maintenance and repair labour costs, according to the OTA.

While the PST was never intended to tax services, it was applied to shop labour.

Bradley said OTA will work with the province to ensure truckers will receive input tax credits for this service.

There will also be significant tax cuts for businesses over the next couple of years.