Federal governments two-month GST holiday begins [Video]

As a two-month break from the federal GST took effect Saturday, shoppers and businesses expressed lukewarm support for the measure.

In Montreal, Patrick Neault, general manager of Raffin Bookstore, said the chain had to shift some staff during the holiday season to make sure the store was compliant.

“We worked kind of hard the last three weeks so that it goes fluidly today and it’s working fine so far,” he said, adding Ottawa’s announcement wasn’t welcoming news when first announced.

But Nault isn’t certain that the benefits for retailers and shoppers will ultimately outweigh the extra work staff had to put in.

“It’s not that much of a deal. It’s like a few per cent (discount) on a transaction. I’m not sure that’s a very strong incentive,” he said.

The federal government announced the plan to temporarily waive the five per cent goods and services tax in a bid to …