_ Bouncing (NSF) cheques ure - causing an increasing number of headaches: for North Shore businesses -- -especially small businesses. | In practice it's often difficult for “businesses to recoup these losses, because taking worthless cheque-writers to court tends to be costly and time-consuming. The . North _ Vancouver ‘Chamber of Commerce has come reducing the problem and is secking support for it. from... the appropriate federal gov- ernment agencies. The Chamber is proposing. that NSF cheque-writers be automatically assessed. a penalty interest rate of 12 per. cent per annum from the date the bouncer is issued -- plus collection costs legal fees where applicable for cheques not honored with -in 15 days of issue. According to the Chamber, this procedure would dis- courage the issuing of NSF cheques and -- even when they are issucd -- ‘would make it easier for the recipient to recover his ioss without having. to resort te xpensive and drawn- out court action. DRINKING & DRIVING DON’T MIX Safe driving. is a family attair. Price, Selection DOWNTOWN TOYOTA CENTRE 1200 BURRARD noar DAVIE 682-8881 “We're Service Orlented’’ Service dept. 7:30 am - 6 pm up with a new idea for . and. Erwen a Mark Andreassen ; “Sarah Jane Goodlady, you: are. charged as. follows: that on Saturday, May. 13, between 11. a.m. and 12 noon in St. Swithin’s ‘church hall, you did unlawfully sell one used teapot, price 50 cents, to a person or persons unknown without ‘emitting the - required sales tax of three cents. to the. . Minister of Finance. How do you. plead?” _— “Guilty, your honor,”’ Goodlady. If B.C. Finance Minister Evan Wolfe and his bureau- .crats are really in earnest ‘mew Social . “Services _Tax Amendment = _ Act 1978, we might be seeing “about _— their hundreds of .Miss Goodlady types hauled into court in the months ahead -- together - _with thousands of household- ers who like to get.rid of the - junk in their basements from time to time. In practice, however, it’s unlikely. Last week FOCUS describ- ed the effect of the new legislation on sellers and buyers of homes containing used stoves, refrigerators, washers, dryers, drapes and the like. Such items are technically ‘‘chattels’’ and subject to sales tax, even quavered ittle -Miss though they 4 form an ‘ integral. part of -the residence chang-. ing hands. : TEETH TO BITE © The intent of. the. amend- ment act is to give Victoria’s sales tax commissar the teeth | to put the bite on. home buyers and ‘sellefs for that” tax, the collection of which has been largely ignored up . to now, because such. fixed -appliances have been tradi- . tionally regarded as part and- parcel of the real estate deal._ The commissar is to be given | the power to clobber any offenders he can uncover, not only for the unpaid tax - itself but also, in the case. of ihe selier, for a penalty equal to the amount of the - tax. Moreover, the new law will be retroactive, applicable. to | all transactions back to 1972. - But ‘appliances ‘sold: with, ‘homes, it:seems, are only. the tip of the iceberg. Last week. we learned that operators of . regular swap .meets are -warning their vendors of the - fren plan to collect. tax on, ali : “‘tangible | ‘personal - ~proper-- 7 ‘ty’’ sold at the meets and, in ~ addition; . of a ‘requirement to record. the’ names and. ad dresses of all buyers.- : ‘As one 2 disgusted house-. “holder visualized it, a typical Swap meet ‘‘sales record’’ in . future . might - presumably tun: ‘One bent and tusty bike, . Bobby. Binton, 17 .. Fairweather Street, $5 (and take 25 cents out of my own pocket for the tax. because people don’t pay sales tax at ‘swap meets).”’ . Beyond that point the imagination boggles at the Alice-in-Wonderland impli- cations of the new act. . - COMEDY STARS? -. Logically. it means that every chipped serving dish, dented lampshade and worn garment sold for 15 cents or ‘more by one individual to another at- > een any. Brivate . have the five per cent: sales” tax collected on it and duly forwarded to Mr. Woilfe’s busy helpers. Omit to send ‘growing arimiy of - ‘compelled to seek “used _ bargains. at rummage and - them the quarter you. should : “have charged ‘Bobby | ‘Binton .. “for his rusty $5 bike and they'll hit both of you for a quarter each - -- -once they fi find = fone oT * : . B.C. - finance department's.» by ‘means. of -classified ads, . you. can” be. forgiven for wondering - “bureaucrats who devised the - whether whole scheme missed _ their true vocation in life: as stars | in a top-rating Tv comedy . series. But actually - a law so ‘impossible to enforce is. no laughing matter, because it encourages disrespect for.the.. law in general. And it also _focuses attention.on the basic - inequities of the sales tax system as.a whole. | _ HITTING THE POOR Even as. applied to new, unused goods, .a. sales tax inevitably hits hardest at our poorer citizens, including the old age pensioners | on. tiny . fixed incomes... And. low-income citizens are precisely those who are most frequently. - transactions, - ‘the ; for anyhow. oe ‘y garage’-sales;-.and: through. ~~ the want ad S. a factory fresh goods ' in: \ regu “lars stores. ° a ‘ather than the © triple: and ‘even. “quadruple - taxation. a changes. hands s veral times in the course of its useful life. ‘when | ‘It. means. that. the. tax. is” . actually * ‘being. ‘levied — on! ‘not: on. “the < goods themselves, - ae . The. only. fair course “as. well as the only wise one, if - respect, for the law in. general - “When. ‘you - consider “the os “hundreds of rummage’ sales’ is -to be. ‘maintained: -- is to: “ ‘abolish’ altogether the ‘sales’ “held: by churchés and. charit- - able - “organizations up and — .down .B.C.,. plus’:the™ thou-- _ sands of. private garage ‘sales .. and. person-to-person. ‘sales’ tax” on .used’ goods sold by private individuals and chari-~- table -organizations on an. occasional basis. . “The sole exception might be private. sales of. motor. - vehicles, which already. come — under — direct: “ government . control via ICBC. And in that - single. case the. levy might ~ appropriately be given anew _ name: the. Motor Vehicle | Transfer Tax,- perhaps. Meanwhile, it’s sincerely | to be hoped that Mr. Wolfe. | and his henchmen may pause | _and think : again. For the sake of . their - dignity, if: CEree VV an nothing else. Not just because. ‘of “poor” - _ little Miss: Goodlady, -tear- fully pleading guilty -to breaking the law, at. the church’ rummage. sale. But -because of the tens of | thousands. of “Miss Good- | lady’s s dime-and-dollar fellow sinners whom’ they haven't _ the faintest change of finding -- and shouldn’ t ‘be looking At the Bank of British Columbia, _ # we can guarantee a high return on one to five year investments of $1,000 or more, with Inflation Fighter Certificates. And we can help you fight inflation. your, interest. Because when the cost of living goes up, our unique inflation fighter - adjustment automatically adds to _ The rate of i interest at the time of. _ your investment is guaranteed for the full rerm of vour certificate. Interest is paid semi-annually on June 30th and | December 31st. Or, if you prefer, your interest may be deferred until your certificate matures. And on deposits of $5,000 or. 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