If you live in Ontario, click on this link from the Ontario Real Estate Association, fill in your name and postal code and it automatically sends off the following letter to your Member of Provincial Parliament.

Dear Name of Ontario M.P.P.,

I’m writing today to express my opposition to the introduction of the Government of Ontario’s Bill 218, the Ontario Tax Plan for More Jobs and Growth Act, 2009 which implements a harmonized sales tax (HST). As a resident in your riding, I am opposed to the HST because it will increase the cost of day to day living and the cost of owning, buying and selling a home.

Homebuyers and sellers will pay 8 per cent more on legal fees, appraisals, real estate commissions, home inspection fees, and moving costs, adding about $1,500 in new taxes to the average residential real estate transaction in Ontario.

A HST will also add 8 per cent more tax on a series of home related costs. Specifically, a HST will add hundreds of dollars in additional tax on utility bills, such as gas, electricity and home heating fuel, on home renovation labour, the cost of lawn upkeep or landscaping and the cost of snow removal. Moreover, a HST will increase my family’s daily cost of living with 8 per cent more tax on gasoline, personal and professional services, dry cleaning, cab fares, magazine subscriptions, plane tickets, vitamins and cell phone charges.

When added together, the impact of an HST on my family’s disposable income will be considerable. In short, the HST will reduce my family’s quality of life by taking more of our hard-earned money to fund government initiatives.

While the Government of Ontario has tried to compensate Ontarians by offering sales tax transition cheques and a modest income tax reduction, these measures will in no way offset this new tax. A one-time payment of $1000 (for a family of four) and a modest $368 reduction in income tax will do very little to offset the burden of an 8 per cent tax increase on a litany of items year after year after year.

Please tell Premier Dalton McGuinty and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan that we are fed up with increasing taxes. Please vote against Bill 218 and stop the HST.

Yours truly,