Federal GST holiday on restaurant meals offers temporary relief

Canadians dining out this holiday season will enjoy a temporary financial break as the federal government removes the 5 per cent GST on dine-in, takeout, and delivery meals from Dec. 14 to Feb. 15.

"Life has become very expensive, so if it helps around this time of year. I'm all for it," said Alan Handel, a customer at Snowdon Deli.

Others said the money they save dining out will be spent at the restaurant, which is what the Quebec Restaurant Association is hoping for.

Martin Vézina, the association's Public Affairs Vice-President, said the tax break is a breath of fresh air for the industry, as it gives clients more money to spend on items like dessert or a bottle of wine.

"What we are seeing in Quebec is not that people go less to restaurants. It's that they spend less when they go to restaurants," he said.

Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez said the tax break, which will apply across the country, addresses lingering affordability concerns.

"We have an incentive for also our small businesses to have a good incentive to bring people back to the business and give the people a sense of paying a bit less," she explained.

But how much less?

McGill University professor Yu Ma said the five per cent federal sales tax equates to a few cents or even dollars depending on the total bill.

"I don't know how many people will notice the change in their final bills."

At Petros Taverna in Westmount, owner Ted Dranias said it will make operations more difficult because it is businesses that are expected to remove the GST at checkout.

"We have to call people and take the taxation off the invoice and eventually put it back. It'sIt's probably going to cost us about a thousand bucks to do that," he said.

While some customers said they would put their money back where they are saving it, restaurants are waiting to see how much they'll make down the line.