Erica Lenti was the Spring 2015 editor of the RRJ. HST exemption for some!
Looks like the dailies’ kid sisters are getting kicked in the mouth again. Funny … we barely have any teeth left.
The Ontario government announced Thursday that newspaper subscriptions would be exempt from the new 13 percent harmonized sales tax. That means by June 2010, magazines will stand alone with an eight percent taxation increase.
“I’m quite certain that we will lose magazines,” said Mark Jamison, chief executive officer of Magazines Canada. “This came as a total shock because we made the same economic and cultural arguments … as newspapers.”
Toronto Star reporter Robert Benzie cited fears of “overtaxing a cherished morning ritual”—that is, of drinking coffee and reading newspapers—as a reason why the Liberals granted the HST break.
Some have suggested that magazine publishers should get on the phone to protest the unfair tax break. I think the solution is much simpler. The magazine industry just needs to create its own cherished daily ritual.
Like winding down at the end of the day with your favourite album, while flipping through the pages of Chart? Or relaxing on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and issue of TV Guide, ready to watch the night away? What about getting your mind going over eggs in the morning with the latest issue of Saturday Night?
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