The government is making money off the province’s electronics recycling program through taxes and a Liberal MLA says this is just another example of a Tory “tax grab.”
Fees the manufacturer charges upfront for recycling things like old computers and televisions are taxed.
Keith Colwell says the government will make millions from this.
“That’s why the provincial revenues have gone so high in the last few years,” he said. “They keep taxing every little thing.”
At the beginning of February, the province introduced the Atlantic Canada Electronics Stewardship, a program for manufacturers to recycle electronics.
The environmental fee for a laptop is $5, but a big screen television can cost upwards of $40 or $45. The goods and services tax is calculated on the entire price of the product, so eight per cent of a $45 recycling fee on a large screen TV, or $3.60, goes to the federal government and a portion of that is passed down to the province.
Environment Minister Mark Parent said the program is “industry-led” and the manufacturers made the decision to tax the environmental fee.
