Servers, Me and the GST

So I’ll start briefly by asking, has anyone really noticed a difference with the GST being 1% less now?

It was a bit of a headache for the manager at a Harvey’s in Barrie (with whom I discussed the change in tariff while in cottage country on the Canada Day weekend), but apart from him, no one’s really expressed their glee and gratitude to Mr. Harper for lessening our burdensome levy.

And if no one really has noticed, why didn’t we just leave the GST at 7% (adding up that 1% of what Canadians purchase in a year makes a huge difference to funding) and keep putting that money back into education, healthcare, social programmes, blah, blah, blah.

My friend Thadd pointed out that one group may notice a difference with the GST reduction: people in the service industry. When leaving a tip at a restaurant, many people use the tax as a guide to tipping since it is 15% of the bill. Having been a server myself, this doesn’t really count as a 15% tip (I know, I know, some reckon you don’t have to tip on tax, but really, that extra dollar change that you’re waiting for means more to me than to you). And now, with the taxes coming to 14%, servers will be out even more cash.

Taxi drivers have managed to circumvent the problem – their totals are tax inclusive, therefore customers will tip on the grand total (although I have heard that cabbies tend to be tipped less of a percentage than servers).

So what does all this mean? Don’t forget to tip your waiter or waitress. They’ve been on their feet all day, running in and out of a hot kitchen (the heat, my god, the heat!) and dealing with obnoxious customers. And if you can afford to go out to dinner, you can afford to tip 15-20% of the entire bill.

(Thanks to Thadd for inspiring this post.)