Feds to waive GST/HST on food, video games and more for two months

The Government of Canada has announced a temporary tax break on a variety of items.

From December 14th, 2024 to February 15th, 2025, a two-month Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) freeze will be in effect on “holiday essentials” like groceries, restaurant meals, children’s clothing and toys. Notably, the government is including video games under toys, so this means that both hardware and software, including consoles and controllers, will be tax-free during this time. (Given that the PS5 Pro currently costs nearly $1,000 before taxes, this might be a good time to grab one if you’re interested.)

The full list of items affected by the GST/HST tax break is as follows:

• Alcoholic beverages (excluding spirits but including wine, beer, ciders, and spirit coolers up to 7 percent ABV)
• Cakes, pies, doughnuts and other desserts
• Candies (including sweets, chocolate and gum)
• Children’s clothing and footwear (including those for babies)
• Children’s car seats
• Children’s toys (select ones, including action figures, dolls, board games and card games)
• Chips (including potato chips, bacon crisps, cheese curls and pretzels)
• Christmas trees
• Fruit bars and granola products
• Jigsaw puzzles (all ages)
• Print newspapers
• Printed books
• Video game consoles, controllers and physical game media

A detailed breakdown of what’s included in each product category can be found on the government’s website.

In addition to the tax breaks, the Liberal government has confirmed that it will send $250 cheques to the 18.7 million people in Canada who worked in 2023 and earned $150,000 or less. This benefit, which the government calls the ‘Working Canadians Rebate,’ will go out in April.

It should be noted that these affordability measures will require legislation, meaning the Liberals must get support from another party. That said, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who proposed similar tax breaks last week, says his party will vote for the Liberals’ new measures and campaign to make the GST break permanent.

Of course, these measures going into effect in mid-December won’t help you if you’re planning to shop now, especially for Black Friday. Thankfully, there are a lot of deals going on right now, and you can find all of MobileSyrup’s Black Friday coverage here.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Via: CTV News