More than 80 per cent of British Columbians are opposed to the impending harmonized sales tax and many of those believe it's a tax grab that will ultimately hurt consumers, according to an Ipsos Reid poll commissioned by Canwest News Service and Global National.

The poll released yesterday shows 82 per cent of B.C. residents and 74 per cent of their Ontario counterparts oppose plans by the two provincial governments to impose the harmonized sales tax.

In both provinces the tax is to come into effect July 1, 2010.

"I'm not surprised [the findings] are as strong as they are, it is certainly the kind of deep anger I hear out there," said provincial NDP Leader Carole James. "The public is united and is very clear that it doesn't believe this is going to be good for the economy in B.C., it's not going to be good for business, particularly small business and not good for the people in this province."

According to the poll, 49 per cent of people in B.C. believe the new tax won't help business, while 91 per cent say the HST will not benefit consumers.

James will join Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and federal NDP Leader Jack Layton at a press conference in Ottawa on Monday to speak against the tax.

She hopes it will have an effect in the House of Commons, which voted to approve a ways-and-means motion Thursday clearing the way for the HST.

That move allowed the federal government to introduce legislation to enable Ontario and B.C. to impose the tax.

"I believe it's critical that all MPs understand how the people of B.C. feel about the HST, so I'm going to make sure they hear loud and clear the views of British Columbians," said James.

The HST combines the five per cent goods and services tax and the seven per cent provincial sales tax.

In B.C., the HST would be 12 per cent, and apply to almost everything that's now subject to the GST.

That means a higher tax for goods and services that were not previously subject to the PST, such as restaurant meals and mutual-fund fees.

But many businesses will be able to get an HST refund on materials used to produce a product.

The poll found only 11 per cent of B.C. residents support the initiative, and 90 per cent believe that the real beneficiaries of the tax will be the provincial and federal governments.

Ipsos Reid conducted online interviews with 1,049 adults from B.C. and 1,962 from Ontario.

The B.C. portion of the poll has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent 19 times out of 20.

B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen did not make himself available to discuss the poll results.

However, the B.C. government has consistently defended the HST, saying it will bring billions in costs savings to industries such as forestry and mining, improve the economy, increase competitiveness and ultimately provide the foundation for jobs.

But the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says few people are buying into that line of thinking.

"People in B.C. are outraged about the HST, and rightly so," said the federation's B.C. director, Maureen Bader. "It represents a $2-billion tax-burden shift from business to consumers."

The Ipsos Reid poll comes after a poll conducted by the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association released Thursday showed 75 per cent of B.C. residents oppose the HST while 63 per cent strongly oppose it. The consistency in the results shows the province is united against the tax, said association president Ian Tostenson.

The $10-billion restaurant industry expects a $750-million hit annually with the introduction of the new tax.

James said she has not given up fighting the tax, and assuming it passes through the House of Commons, intends to focus on scuttling it in the B.C. legislature.

aduffy@tc.canwest.com