Thursday, January 13, 2011

Pennies: live or die?


Summary

Canadians are discussing the future of the penny.  The question is if we should get rid of it or not?  People who are in favor of getting rid of the penny say that the penny is a hindrance and costs more in production then it actually is worth.  They want to get rid of it just like New Zealand and England have.  However, other people oppose this because it means rounding up the prices of their bill every time they go to buy something.  Also getting rid of the penny will cost a lot because it will have to be collected and minted.  These people also feel that is a part of their heritage now. 


Connections

The basic way to make a payment is to use cash.  Pennies have the lowest value from all of the other money and are worth one cent.  To make vouchers people have to count them and put them in rolls.  This can be considered as time consuming.  If the pennies are demolished then people and business owners will have to round up there bills.  This will need new accounting entries.  Every entry will have to be rounded up individually.  The pennies will be one less coin to count at from the cash register at the end of the day.


Reflection

I think we would be better off without the penny because it would save expense costs that are spent for the production of the penny.  Also it would save the environment from a few less companies that spew out smoke for making the pennies.  Every one only has to accept twenty-five pennies at a time, so it would just be simpler if we were to use the nickels and dimes.  Banks have to roll up pennies and it is inefficient.  They could save time and money if they were dealing with larger amounts of money.  Also the pennies don't go back into circulation because people generally collect them and don't use them again.  For that reason new pennies have to be made; which just costs the taxpayers.  Pennies are usually dirty as well which means they just carry around germs.  The bill will be rounded up sometimes and down sometimes, so it will balance out in the end.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Anti-HST petition should proceed, court rules

Today I will be analyzing an article from CBC news about the petition against the HST tax a.k.a the Hated Sales Tax.  The link is: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/08/20/bc-hst-petition-court-decision.html

In this article it discusses the HST tax and a petition against it.  Former premier Bill Vander Zalm's 700,000 signatures on this petition from people who live in British Columbia.  This was presented to the provincial supreme court and it ruled that the petition may proceed. The residents who have an average income are solidly against this HST tax and are happy to see the petition proceed.  However, business owners are disappointed about the petition proceed. 

Chief Justice Robert Bauman basically announced that Gordan Campbell is proud of people for standing up for their democratic rights.  Vander Zalm seemed to be encouraged by the courts ruling.  The legislative now has thirty days to meet up and ninety days after that to decide on a referendum. 

The HST tax is related to the textbook because now there will be no need for PST recoverable and PST payable.  The HST tax will be treated as a GST recoverable and GST payable.  This is only taking place in British Columbia and Ontario, so accountants will still have to learn both the methods of taxation.  Businesses will also be now receiving more money in tax return.

Personally I don't think that the HST tax will go away.  This is because many business owners will vote against the petition.  It is to their benefit to have the HST as the tax instead of GST and PST.