TORONTO, Ont. — The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) was one of nine organizations who are calling on the province to harmonize the provincial sales tax with the federal GST.

Included in the provincial sales tax is the multi-jurisdictional vehicle tax. The organizations tabled a report called Made in Ontario: The Case for Sales Tax Harmonization.

“The current Ontario approach taxing business inputs in the trucking industry is outdated and uncompetitive compared to most other Canadian jurisdictions and the US states with whom Ontario competes,” OTA president David Bradley said.  “Ontario trucking companies must administer two provincial sales tax systems – the PST and the Multi-Jurisdictional Vehicles Tax – as well as the federal GST. The more our members invest in new equipment and technology, the more tax they pay.”

Some other provinces, such as Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, have already harmonized provincial sales tax with the GST, Bradley pointed out. He said the Ontario trucking industry is discriminated against in terms of taxation of business inputs such as tractors and trailers compared to fleets in some other provinces and states.

“The more a trucking company invests in equipment in Ontario, the more tax it pays,” he contended. “That doesn’t make sense in this day and age, or from a safety, environmental or economic point of view.”