Electronics / Green tax

[jesseps]

Buying speakers, Denis Ducharme is considering coming back to an electronics store soon for a new TV, even if he really doesn’t need one.

 

“Because of that new taxes, it will cost $42 more, if I can save money that’s always interesting,” said Ducharme.

Starting Oct. 1, a new environmental handling fee will be levied on all electronics sold in Quebec. The new green tax will cover the cost of disposing of electronics—devices full of environmentally harmful substances like mercury.

The government hopes the tax will encourage people to recycle their electronics.

While Quebec will join seven other provinces that have already implemented similar taxes, the fees will be the highest in the country, hitting pocketbooks harder.

Consumers will need to pay an additional $1.65 for most laptops, $7.50 more for desktop computers, and $42.50 for big screen TVs.

According to the Retail Council of Canada, the fees will cover the start-up costs of a new electronics recycling program in Quebec.

“Once we have more experience with the producers and everyone involved in this program, we hope that the costs will go down,” said spokeswoman Nathalie St-Pierre.

According to consumer advocate Charles Tanguay, charging consumers up-front will not act as an incentive to consider the environment.

“It’s another tax for consumers and it doesn’t provide producers with an incentive to do more,” said Tanguay, speaking for the Consumers Union of Quebec.

 

Read more: http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/new-green-tax-to-make-electronics-more-expensive-1.957018#ixzz26druCxzC

 

Things just got more expensive again in this province I wonder what else is left for Quebec to tax us on? Quebec could make life harder for consumers buying stuff at Zara, H&M and others, by having a tax on clothes made in China, Bangladesh and other countries.

Modifié 16 septembre 2012 par jesseps