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economist sunsuntribune bud get saturday feb 26 2005 excise tax break em for jewellers by patrick mangion staff writer jewellers received some welcome news in a federal budget that made few concessions for the business communi ty finance minister ralph goodale called for gradual elimination of the 10- percent excise tax during last wednes days budget the luxury levy has been paid by jew elry manufacturers for items made or imported to canada for thornhill jeweller ella weisman it was a long time coming as the tax had been dropped on other luxury items years earlier she said we can give the savings back to cus tomers said ms weisman owner of goldstep jewellers the canadian jewellers association wasnt as diplomatic referring to the tax as jobinhibiting and a competition killen the government plans to decrease the excise tax by 2 per cent a year until it is eliminated in 2009 it was one piece of good news from a federal budget that left many business people feeling they were passed over in the first budget by a minority govern ment in 25 years tax cuts deep enough to support a thriving economy were favoured instead the government delivered a pleaseall budget markham board of trade president keith bray said his group and the richmond hill chamber of commerce received a breakdown of the budget by bdo dun- nwoody chartered accountants thurs day youve got a minority government and a budget that reflects that stephen meek told the crowd of about 50 accordingly any changes to the canadian business landscape would be minor the other news of note for business was a rollback of the general corporate tax rate from 21 to 19 per cent between 2008 and 2010 following the presenta tion muhammad siddiqui called this years budget the status quo for a liber al party in power since 1993 there was nothing exceptional about this budget its the same thing theyve been doing the past four years said mr siddiqui adding 128 billion allocated for military spending could have been better spent nazeeneih hirani fears the budget will do little to address the needs of canadas manufacturers and small to medium firms while the government continues to invest in hightech industries the same advantages have not been afforded to the tom dick and harry manufactur ers she said however a competitive exchange rate with the united states may alleviate some of those challenges ms hirani added meanwhile a reining in of federal spending was sought by the canadian federation of independent business which represents more than 105000 small and medium businesses nation wide they were hoping the federal liber als would turn back the clock to 2000 when their preelection minibudget envisioned 100 billion in tax savings over five years those cuts bolstered the canadian economy and small business job cre ation according to the organization but opposition conservative leader stephen harper told reporters the cuts were deep enough that his party would nt vote down the budget and force an election recognized around h the ihrw world hp meafet always on call wwwmedlcalertca lor more information 1-0q-66- thjsmessagebfoughttbyouasa i state of the 1 art exercise gym i free weight room squash courts child care m salsa burn kick boxing i pilates tai chi yoga still waters muscle mania personal trainers reciprocal membership privileges at the adelaide club i downtown and ontario racquet club mississauga i ask for details call the club for details hurry limited time offer sukijbynfybbiftiititiimfl m markham located in the hilton suites j 8500 warden ave f at hwy 7 9054702400 mm et youre too young to retire but not too young to plan make sure your retirement savings always keep working for you we can help with rrsps and more get started now by giving one of us a call today andrew mctaggart laurie varcoe keith jupp amy hung ken yee sandy mackenzie 190 bullock drive 7676 markham road 3 centre street suite 201 4261 highway 7 east 96 cornell park avenue 6288 main street markham markham markham unionville markham stouffville 9052946357 9052011343 9052941562 9054743286 9052011812 9056424546 rick allington ins agcy ltd rick allington 50 mcintosh dr unionville 9054771107 john j calovic ins agcy ltd john calovic 548 carlton road unionville 9054777244 kirk wanvig 3150 highway 7 east markham 9055135475 joanne freeman 9275 markham road markham 9052947415 like a good neighbour tlatl shobha s gowda ins agcy inc shobha gowda 3321 mcnicoll ave scarborough 4163324944 state farm is there p046168cn 1104 providing insurance and financial services statefarmca state farm canadian head offices scarborough ontario consult your tax or legal advisor for specific advice