VICTORIA - Whether British Columbians keep doling out 12 per cent HST on items from haircuts to hamburgers or return to the old tax system could be known by August 25.
That's the earliest date that Elections BC expects to have all votes tallied on the provincial referendum seeking to extinguish the controversial tax.
Spokesman Don Main says the counting and verification process will likely begin on Tuesday, by which point all mail-in ballots should be gathered at a central location in Victoria.
Ballots must be at Canada Post's Vancouver processing plant, at the Elections BC collection office or at a Service B.C. centre by Friday's 4:30 p.m. deadline.
Should voters choose to extinguish the HST, the public will go back to paying a five per-cent federal Goods and Services Tax alongside a seven per-cent provincial sales tax.
Elections BC is refusing to say how many ballots have actually come in so far, but Main says they'll release those details sometime next week.
