Frustration greets hope among Winnipeg businesses as GST holiday comes into effect

As a two-month break from the federal GST took effect on Saturday, some Winnipeg businesses say they are already seeing an increase in sales with others saying they scrambled to get ready and are not sure whether the tax holiday will boost revenue. 

"This is just [a] further incentive, more of a win-win," Ev Legris, store manager at PNP Games, said. 

Foot traffic at the video game store has been "conspicuously slow" leading up to the tax break. But since doors open at the Portage Avenue retailer on Saturday, Legris said sales are booming, with revenue amounting close to Black Friday numbers. 

"People were very much waiting for the break to come into effect before making any major Christmas purchases," Legris said. 

The federal government announced in November that the five per cent tax on goods and services will be cut from specific items like prepared food, beverages, and children's toys, from Dec. 14 to Feb. 15. The GST is also temporarily waived from consoles, controllers, and physical video games. 

Legris said "extra steps" weren't needed to implement the tax break at the store, with changes made directly at the retail chain's point-of-sale system. 

"We just basically have to deal with the rush, the business," Legris said. "It makes the day go by fast. I can't complain."

But for the owner of Toad Hall Toys, Kari England, bringing her store up to speed to comply with the GST holiday has been frustrating. 

"It is inconvenient, something I wished I didn't have to deal with," England said.

England said the revenue at her store by this time of the year already matches last year's numbers, and she is not expecting to see a boom in sales ahead of Christmas now that the GST has been temporarily waived for certain products at her store.  

Some customers at Toad Hall Toys weren't aware the tax break had come into effect on Saturday. Others said most of their Christmas shopping was already done and they didn't want to hold out until the GST holiday came into effect. 

"It is five per cent, it is nice, but nothing to get really excited about," Glenn Hosea said. 

But England said the administrative burden of preparing for the tax break has added "another layer of yuck and stress" to an already busy time of year, which has been impacted by the Canada Post strike. 

"If it helps others, I am glad, but from my point of view, I wish they hadn't," she said. 

England said preparations for the GST holiday started weeks ago, manually sorting out inventory to determine which products qualify for the tax break. 

She said after doors closed to customers on Friday she had to change 400 tax codes "one after one" so her store was ready to comply with the GST holiday on Saturday.

The tax exemption also meant retraining staff in return policies for items purchased before the GST holiday and manually changing taxes for orders put on hold in her system. 

"This was something I don't need at this time of the year, and also, I am not going to need it on Valentine's Day when I get to change it back," England said.