Delta is waiting to hear more about a controversial tax before taking a strong stance on it.

The Delta Chamber of Commerce is generally supportive of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), a 12 per cent tax to replace the Provincial Sales Tax and Goods and Services Tax.

Set to take effect in July 2010, the HST will effectively add seven per cent tax to goods and services previously only subject to GST.

However, the experience in Ontario and some Atlantic provinces has been an overall savings to companies, due in part to streamlining of accounting procedures.

What effect the HST will have in this province is largely up to how the tax is implemented by the province and what exemptions are offered.

Peter Roaf, Executive Director for the Delta Chamber of Commerce, said it's too early for the chamber to say for sure whether it will support the tax.

The devil is always in the details, and the chamber will reserve judgement until more is known, he said.

"What's in the program?" Roaf asked. "I would imagine this fall they (the province) would be rolling out some more details, then we would have to be looking at that. Everyone's waiting to see, no one knows."

Mayor Lois Jackson is also waiting for more information, and asked staff if they could provide more details.

"How is this really going to affect us, are we just sort of panicking here?" Jackson asked staff. "I'm still waiting for the finance guys to let me know what it's going to mean to the municipality."

Premier Gordon Campbell said at the July 23 announcement of the tax that it will dramatically improve B.C.'s business competitiveness.

“This is the single biggest thing we can do to improve B.C.’s economy,” he said. “This is an essential step to make our businesses more competitive, encourage billions of dollars in new investment, lower costs on productivity and reduce administrative costs to B.C. taxpayers and businesses.”

The opposition NDP has decried the tax.

“Gordon Campbell’s HST betrayal is bad for the economy, bad for jobs, and bad for the environment,” said NDP Leader Carole James. “And it comes at the worst possible time for families struggling to make ends meet."

kdiakiw@surreyleader.com