The Island’s move to a harmonized sales tax system will dramatically increase the province’s ability to compete worldwide, according to a new report.

The Annual Global Tax Competitiveness Ranking from the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary was released yesterday.

“The report confirms that the new tax system will put us in a position to attract and retain new businesses from all over the world,” said Finance Minister Wes Sheridan. “This report sums up our position that the implementation of the HST will help grow our economy and reach our goals of maintaining important services to Islanders while giving us the resources we need to balance our budget.”

The report says Prince Edward Island’s planned sales tax harmonization will move the Island’s tax competitiveness ranking from the 87th to the 19th most competitive among the 100 jurisdictions reviewed (90 countries plus the 10 Canadian provinces).

The report calls Canada the most tax-competitive country among the G-7 countries. The authors, Duanjie Chen and Jack Mintz, indicate that even in difficult global economic times Canada has remained focused on building a more competitive corporate tax system, resulting in improved investment and economic growth. The report specifically cites the harmonization of the provincial sales tax with the GST in Ontario and Prince Edward Island as important steps in improving Canada’s competitiveness.

“This has been the foundation of our plan to modernize the tax system,” the Minister said. “As we do not have the resources available in other provinces, we have to rely on our most valuable resource: our people. And in order to make it possible for more Islanders to find fulfilling employment here at home, we need to make it more attractive for businesses to move here. The introduction of the HST makes the Island more attractive to business – and, in turn, this will help grow our private sector and provide well paying careers for our skilled Island workforce.”

A link to the full report entitled, “2012 Annual Global Tax Competitiveness Ranking – A Canadian Good News Story,” is available on the Provincial HST Implementation website at www.peihst.ca.

For more information on the HST in Prince Edward Island, log onto our website at www.peihst.ca.