Ontario’s Budget 2009 dealt the real estate market a significant blow with the announcement of the harmonization of the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) with the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The Provincial government will, starting July 10, 2010, convert the PST (8%) to a value-added tax structure and combine it with the GST (5%) to create a single federally administered harmonized sales tax. The single sales tax would have a combined tax rate of 13 per cent.

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