B.C. HST confuses residents

B.C. residents are confused about the harmonized sales tax and want more information on the HST before voting in a referendum on the tax next fall, the province's HST Information Office says.

That's the key finding of polling and focus groups conducted for the office, an agency set up by the provincial government earlier this year to provide voters with information on the tax.

"While the implementation of the HST was problematic and has led to confusion and anger among many British Columbians, there is a strong understanding that this is an important decision," John Les, the Chilliwack-area MLA who has been appointed to lead the newly created agency, said in a news release Monday.

"This research shows that British Columbians, while still very concerned about the introduction of the HST and its impacts, desire more factual information prior to voting."

The polling found that 55 per cent of those surveyed believe the HST will hurt the economy while 31 per cent think it will help.

But it also found 63 per cent aren't satisfied with the information they've been given about the tax and 47 per cent don't believe they have enough information to make an informed choice about the HST.

The surveys also found many people are confused about just what goods and services the HST affects, and 45 per cent are worried about returning to the old PST and GST system.

Large majority supports referendum

When asked about their perceptions of the tax, many people responded that there were more reasons to oppose the HST than to support it.

The pollsters found some respondents thought the HST increased the cost of goods and services that have not, in fact, been affected.

As well, many respondents believed the HST would negatively impact most sectors of the economy, even though some will actually benefit from it.

In focus groups, more than half that participated were initially opposed to the HST, but many changed their minds after considering the consequences of returning to the PST, the news release said.

Focus group participants also wanted to be told the facts of the tax, not sold on its merits. Participants insisted they wanted to know clearly the negative impacts of the HST and what's being done to mitigate those as well as what the benefits are.

The research also found an overwhelming number of respondents polled67 per cent were supportive of the referendum on the tax, scheduled for September 2011.

Pollsters Harris-Decima surveyed 887 people in November, and the results are considered accurate within 3.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.