On March
26th, 2009, the McGuinty government announced its intention to harmonize the
goods and services tax with the provincial sales tax. As a result of this
change, provincial sales tax will
now be levied on legal fees, appraisals, real estate commissions, home
inspection fees and other services related to a real estate transaction.
OREA believes that this tax grab will severely hurt the resale housing
market and reduce affordability for Ontarians trying to buy a home. We
encourage all Ontario residents to write their MPP to express their outrage
at these new taxes and to tell them how badly they will hurt the real estate
market in your area.
Send an e-mail to your MPP on this issue now by
clicking here. Should you receive a response from your MPP, please
forward a copy to
governmentrelations@orea.com or via fax: (416) 445-2644 to the attention
of the Government Relations Department. Thank you for your help.
Local Food Map:
"People Are Craving This
Info"
The hunger for local food is so strong,
you can almost hear stomachs growling. The Essex County Federation of
Agriculture is getting 10 calls and e-mails a day as consumers wait
for the area's first local food map to be printed. The highly
anticipated brochure should be available May 1 and will give consumers
a way to find local fruits, vegetables, meat and more. Consumers may
discover there's also locally produced flour, popcorn, cheese, milk
and honey...continue reading
