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THE LEN LESSER REPORT  

THE LEN LESSER REPORT

 

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CROSS BORDER SHOPPING MAY SAVE YOU A FEW DOLLARS BUT IN THE LONG RUN HURTS OUR ECONOMY

There are new regulations on cross border shopping effective June 1st to the United States.

For those who want to shop to they drop you can spend 24 hours away from Canada; you are now able to bring back $200.00 of merchandise duty-free, a four fold increase, from a maximum of $50.00 If your stay takes two to seven days you are now allowed $800.tax free merchandise that has increased from $200.00.

You can check out the web site of the Canadian Border Services www.cbsa.gc.ca to see the new regulations. Not to worry you do not have to pay the 13% HST taxes that retailers are obliged to collect here in London.

You stop at the border crossing between Port Huron and Sarnia on your way home from Burch Run in Michigan and the officials will ask for identification and enquire how long you have been away from Canada. Receipts are usually not required with the officials taking you at your word On the surface it sounds like a good deal for Londoners who wish to spend their time shopping for bargains.

Having a much larger economic base ten times larger then Canada the U.S retailers can market their merchandise for the most part lower then comparable goods in Canada. The Canadian dollar is close to par with the American Greenback so you are not penalized with the exchange rate.

Cross border shopping denies our retailers of the income to stay in business, pay their property taxes, income taxes, The sales in London help finance our hospitals, schools and inner structure to make our Forest City prosper. Retail is a viable career option for tens of thousands of employees who enjoy selling and serving their customers.

Being one hour away from the shopping emporiums across the border is enticing for we who live in Southwestern Ontario. The retailers and ultimately the citizens of Sarnia, Niagra Falls and Windsor will suffer the most with the new regulations that allow more monies to leave their communities.

I find it interesting that the American exemption for cross border shopping has not increased from the $200. limit.

Shopping in the States may save you a few dollars but in the long run we may experience more empty stores on "Main Street" resulting in increased unemployment and less tax dollars available to support our communities. Americans with the equalization of the dollar are not making their way to Canada in the same past numbers to vacation and spend their money shopping for Canadian merchandise.

Londoners have to make wise long term decisions regarding the economic viability of our city. Sure, you can save a few dollars shopping across the border or you can spend your hard earned Loonies in your community where your shopping dollars makes a positive significant difference. Short term gain or long term gain: please choose wisely where you decide to shop.

Len Lesser

Len Lesser posts a report every week

You can email Len at lenlesser@hotmail.com