Decrease will be 1 per cent each year
The government of Nova Scotia will reduce the provincial portion of the harmonized sales tax (HST) by one per cent in 2014 and one per cent in 2015.
The change will bring the rate to 13 per cent in 2015.
The HST rate in the province increased on July 1, 2010 when Nova Scotia upped the provincial portion of the HST from eight per cent to 10 per cent, causing the HST to go from 13 per cent to 15 per cent.
“Next year, this province will have a real, sustainable surplus based on reliable revenues and reasonable expenditures,” said Finance Minister Graham Steele when he delivered the province’s budget. “After that, our balance sheet will improve to the point where we can reduce the Harmonized Sales Tax by one per cent in 2014, and by another one per cent in 2015.”
