Say good bye to the Canadian penny

[angelatc]

Still lower than in Europe. EU law says no country can have a VAT lower than 15%. Spain's is 19% and no goods are exempt.

But if you don't live in Europe you can get the VAT refunded. Not sure if Canada will let people do that.

[eduardo89]

But if you don't live in Europe you can get the VAT refunded. Not sure if Canada will let people do that.

I do live in Europe though. And tourists don't get everything refunded.

[MozoVote]

Just Google for "penny hoarding" ... this has been going on for several years.

We probably will stop minting penniesin the US within a decade. We got rid of the half cent coin long ago. There is a precedent.

I've always advocated lopping off a zero from the base currency in revaluation. Then pennies would be worth something. And gas would be 45¢ a gallon in California.

[WilliamC]

Just Google for "penny hoarding" ... this has been going on for several years.

We probably will stop minting penniesin the US within a decade. We got rid of the half cent coin long ago. There is a precedent.

I've always advocated lopping off a zero from the base currency in revaluation. Then pennies would be worth something. And gas would be 45¢ a gallon in California.

Yea but the lopping would be applied across the board to everyone's salary and income and savings and investments as well.

People just need to figure out that the entire monetary system itself is counterfeit before we can really solve the problem, and the momentum is growing.

When the change comes it will come rapidly, and it won't all be bad.

In fact, it may very well be much better quickly the sooner it comes.

[oyarde]

Yeah well just wait until a nickel is also worthless, then a dime, then a quarter...pretty soon you wot even be able to buy a liter of gas with a loonie...oh wait, you already can't.

It currently costs more than a dime to make an American nickel.

[oyarde]

Still lower than in Europe. EU law says no country can have a VAT lower than 15%. Spain's is 19% and no goods are exempt.

Spain likes to match the tax with the unemployment rate

[eduardo89]

Spain likes to match the tax with the unemployment rate

Then they need to increase the tax rate!

[MozoVote]

It's pretty pathetic that in my own lifetime I have seen our currency degrade to "not too far away" from a tenth of what it was. I can remember seeing gas station signs at 59 cents a gallon when I was a child. A Big Gulp at 7-11 was 49 cents. A half pint of milk in the primary school cafeteria (...yes I know it was state subsidized, but still...) was only SIX cents.

I'm only in my mid 40s. This is not like talking about pricing from the Great Depression or something.

[kezt777]

Yes, there's a national 5% sales tax called the Goods and Services Tax (GST)

Every province except Alberta also has its own sales tax. Usually it's called a Provincial Sales Tax and is calculated on top of the GST. Many provinces have been moving towards a single "Harmonized Sales Tax" (HST) which calculates both taxes together.

Being from Alberta, I always forget that the other provinces have sales tax... so yeah that's going to be all screwy eventually. Some are 11%, some are 14%... oh fun. It won't matter if items are no longer listed as $1.99 because even with $2, the funky tax totals will be a pain.

[kezt777]

Yeah, Canadians accept American pennies. Including vending machines! Weird how that works?

I dont think I have ever seen a vending machine that accepts pennies in my whole life here in Canukia!