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More spent on taxes than food, shelter and clothing - Infomart - 0 views

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  • Winnipeg Free Press Fri Aug 28 2015
  • CANADIANS spend more on taxes than on food, clothing and shelter combined, according to a study released Thursday. The study by the Fraser Institute shows the average Canadian family spent 42.1 per cent of its income on taxes while 36.6 per cent went to the combined basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. In its study, the non-partisan, public policy think-tank looked at an average family in Canada earning $79,010 in 2014. While 42.1 per cent of that income went to taxes, just 21 per cent was spent on shelter, 11 per cent on food and five per cent on clothing.
  • That translated to $33,272 in total taxes compared to $28,887 on food, clothing and shelter combined. "With growth in the total tax bill outpacing the cost of basic necessities, taxes now eat up more family income, so families have less money available to spend, save or pay down household debt," Charles Lammam, director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the study, said in a statement. However, a community advocate cautions people should remember taxes cover programs such as health care that would have to be paid by families as necessities if those programs didn't exist. "There's no question we're paying far more in taxes, but what tends to be really misleading is to state that we are paying more in taxes than we are paying in necessities in life when you take into account medicare because that's part of the reasons taxes went up after 1961," said Harold Dyck, a community social-assistance advocate with Winnipeg Harvest, referring to Canada establishing its universal health-care program. A key focus of the study was a comparison of taxes paid in 2014 by families with taxes paid by families in 1961. It found an average family's tax bill has risen 1,886 per cent in the past 53 years while average income increased by 1,480 per cent, a slower rate than taxes.
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  • In 1961, the scales tipped the other way as the average family spent 33.5 per cent on taxes and 56.5 per cent on food, clothing and shelter. "Over the past five decades, the tax bill for the average Canadian family has ballooned, and now the amount of money going to taxes is greater than what's spent on life's basic necessities," Lammam said in a statement. The study noted the total tax bill considered reflected "both visible and hidden taxes families pay to the federal, provincial and local governments, including income taxes, payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, health taxes, fuel taxes, alcohol taxes and more." Dyck said it is necessary to consider the 1961 date as the baseline for the comparison to get a clearer picture.
  • "From 1961 back, we did not have a national medicare program. Since then we have, and that is definitely part of our tax dollars. We now have free access to this necessity of life, medical care," he said. "A portion of that tax burden needs clarification so people aren't left with the impression that this (tax dollars) goes into some netherworld where we never see anything coming back to us," Dyck said. "It (the study) is a subtle way to get people's ire up that we want taxes cut, cut, cut without asking what does that mean and how would that impact Canadians in the end? What services are we going to lose? There are many other things you can consider necessities. taxes pay for our highways and roads, hospitals, education system, all these things that should also be considered necessities."
  • The study showed average families in 1961 earned an average of $5,000 and paid taxes worth $1,675. In the past 53 years, the average family's tax bill increase of 1,886 per cent outpaced price increases to food (561 per cent), clothing (819 per cent) and shelter (1,366 per cent). Dyck said the focus should be on where the waste takes place in use of tax dollars and ways to reduce that waste. The study also found the percentage of income used to pay taxes has risen steadily since 2008 when 40.9 per cent of income was spent on taxes. ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca
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'Health taxes' just a cash grab in disguise - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|246243|kldn|20150408|218067796 from heather costs
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  • The Kirkland Lake Northern News Wed Apr 8 2015
  • Q When is a tax in Canada not for health care? Almost never. When do governments resort to special health taxes? When they're running for budget cover. Why do we put up with it?
  • Because governments know they can get away with cowardly cash grabs dressed up for health care, even if they bear no resemblance to health care's true costs and may not even be used to help pay for it. Better to shake down taxpayers in the name of the one program sacrosanct to them, than to outright raise regular taxes or do the dirty work of cutting spending. Ontarians should know this better than most -- they were hit with a massive tax increase, the largest in their history, when the Liberals brought in a personal health tax of up to $900 in 2004 when they were trying to climb out of a budget hole inherited from the previous Tory government. Dalton McGuinty, premier at the time, had only months earlier vowed during an election not to increase taxes. A decade on, with McGuinty long gone, Liberal-ruled Ontario is still in hock up to its eyeballs, with no prospect of whipping its books into shape until at least two years from now. Now, with the collapse in oil prices that have greased its treasury, Alberta is hitting up taxpayers with a special health tax of up to $1,000 on those with taxable incomes above $50,000 a year. Ironically, just four years after Ontario imposed its health tax, then-buoyant Alberta -- oil was trading at $118 a barrel, more than double today's price -- waved a magic wand and made health insurance charges go away. Neither province calls its health charge a tax, of course. That would be too honest.
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  • In tax-hating Alberta, which has no sales tax, it's called a "health-care contribution levy." Ontarians know it as a "health-care premium," an odd choice of words since their OHIP premiums were already paid through a health payroll tax that an earlier Liberal government, sensing opportunity at the polls, saddled entirely onto employers after years of companies and employees sharing the tab. But semantics aren't the only problem with these political taxes. Worse, they create the idea for those who don't know better that healthcare budgets are balanced or largely covered off with the fees, which -- bottom line -- amount to about what you'd pay for a late-night hospital ER visit if you had no coverage. In fact, these hidden taxes generate only pennies on the health-care dollar.
  • Ontario is spending $50 billion on health care this year, or 38% of its total budget. Its two nominal health taxes, the personal and payroll, will bring in $8.9 billion. That's 18 cents on every health-care dollar. Health spending in Ontario is so high, it takes every dollar of personal income tax and sales tax the province collects to cover the tab, with about $1 billion left over. And that's in a province that has managed to rein in runaway growth in health spending. In Alberta, where spending will actually fall by nearly 1% this year, health care will consume almost 40% of its 2015 budget. And that new "health-care contribution levy"? It will bring in a mere $400 million in a $19-billion healthcare system that costs more than Alberta rakes in from personal, corporate income tax and resource revenue combined. Canadians spend an estimated $215 billion a year on health care. About 30% of that is out of their own pockets or private insurance. Governments pay the rest. The total is more than the federal government's annual take from all personal and corporate income taxes. Apologies to Alberta and Ontario, but all taxes are for health care.
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Economists urge world leaders to rein in tax havens; Open letter from 350 leading exper... - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|245142|tost|20160510|246679093 taxes fraud international cupe ally
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  • Toronto Star Tue May 10 2016
  • Tax havens "serve no useful economic purpose" and their "veil of secrecy" should be lifted, say more than 350 of the world's leading economists in an open letter made public in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations. The letter's signatories, which include celebrity economists like Jeffrey Sachs and Thomas Piketty, as well as professors at Harvard, Oxford and the Sorbonne, denounce tax havens because they contribute to global inequality.
  • Territories allowing assets to be hidden in shell companies or which encourage profits to be booked by companies that do no business there, are distorting the working of the global economy," state the experts. "Whilst these jurisdictions undoubtedly benefit some rich individuals and multinational corporations, this benefit is at the expense of others." The economists say the Panama Papers investigations, carried out in Canada by the Star and CBC/Radio-Canada, revealed that "the secrecy provided by tax havens fuels corruption and undermines countries' ability to collect their fair share of taxes."
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  • And while estimates put the cost to Canadian tax coffers at $6-$7.8 billion per year, the effect on developing countries is far greater, said Haroon Akram-Lodhi an economist and professor of international development at Trent University. "The amount of capital flight from sub-Saharan Africa is absolutely huge and it's all going into these tax havens," said Akram-Lodhi, one of the signatories of the letter. "This is reducing the ability to fight poverty on a global scale." The letter, made public on the eve of this week's global anti-corruption summit in London, calls on world leaders to act against financial secrecy both in tax havens and at home. "To lift the veil of secrecy surrounding tax havens we need new global agreements on issues such as public country-by-country reporting, including for tax havens. Governments must also put their own houses in order by ensuring that all the territories, for which they are responsible, make publicly available information about the real 'beneficial' owners of company and trusts." On Monday, Transparency International Canada issued a parallel call for the Canadian government to make its own corporate registry more transparent.
  • There is a pressing need for the Government of Canada to take concrete steps to address the ability of some Canadians to shield themselves, and their financial activities, from Canadian authorities," said Peter Dent, president of Transparency International Canada. "That some can rig the system to hide their wealth, whether amassed legally or not, is not merely unjust. It also masks corruption and harms global development by siphoning off revenues that could be directed to education, health care and infrastructure," Dent said in a statement. While the growing movement to crack down on tax havens has been spearheaded by the richest countries through the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, the negative effects of depleted government revenues hit the poorest countries the hardest. Uganda, an East African country which has often been described as a "donor darling," remains stuck in a cycle of poverty largely due to its inability to provide state services, said Akram-Lodhi.
  • They don't collect enough tax (because) multinational corporations evade their fair share," he said. While the U.K. government collects 25 per cent of its GDP in tax revenue, Uganda is only able to get 11 per cent, according to World Bank statistics. Instead of having to wait longer for a new subway, low tax revenue has far graver consequences in the developing world, he said. "Tax avoidance in Canada doesn't lead to people going hungry. Tax avoidance in sub-Saharan Africa leads to people dying of hunger. It's that clear," said Akram-Lodhi. "It's criminality that ruins people's lives." Another signatory of the letter, Peter Dietsch, a professor of philosophy and economics at the Université de Montréal, said the Panama Papers have "opened a window of opportunity for action." Describing the underlying conflict over tax havens as being between people who have capital and those who don't, Dietsch said anti-tax haven forces are growing.
  • "There's now a growing coalition of individuals without capital who pay their taxes and small and medium enterprises who don't have resources to move their assets abroad." Canadian signatories A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi, professor of international development studies, Trent University. Peter Dietsch, professor of philosophy, Université de Montréal Hashmat Khan, professor of economics, Carleton University Kiari Liman-Tinguiri, president of IEDAS Inc., Ottawa Patricia E. Perkins, professor, faculty of Environmental Studies, York University Toby Sanger, senior economist, CUPE
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The great shrinkage: fiscal capacity under Prime Minister Harper - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|246199|ntgm|20150903|228460444 from heather accord funding taxes medicare
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  • The Globe and Mail Thu Sep 3 2015
  • When the Harper government took office, federal tax revenues (2006-07 fiscal year) were 13.5 per cent of GDP, a bit shy of the 14.5per-cent peak in 2000-01. In the most recent fiscal year (2014-15), they are projected in the most recent federal budget to be just 11.4 per cent of GDP, which is lower than in the mid-1960s before the creation of much of the modern welfare state. With total GDP now just under $2-trillion, a seemingly small decline in federal tax revenues of 2.1 percentage points of GDP translates into foregone annual revenues of $41.5-billion. To put that in perspective, in 2014-15, federal transfers to the provinces for health care and social programs combined came to almost as much, $44.7-billion. If federal capacity were at the same level as in 2006, Canada could afford eight national childcare programs on the scale proposed by NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair. Or we could more than triple the current level of federal funding of transit and municipal infrastructure.
  • To which the government responds that it has had to deal with many factors outside of its control, including a global recession and the recent collapse of commodity prices. But the government can be fairly judged by its own discretionary fiscal actions, including decisions whether to raise or lower spending and taxes, and whether to run deficits.
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  • Economic Insight Prime Minister Stephen Harper's economic record since taking office in 2006 is at the centre of debate in the current federal election campaign. Arguably his signature achievement is to have radically reduced the fiscal capacity of the federal government, and with it, the broader role of government in advancing the economic and social welfare of Canadians. As labour economists Jim Stanford and Jordan Brennan have shown, the Harper economic record is the worst of any postwar federal government when judged by 16 key macro-economic variables including per capita GDP growth, job creation, unemployment and under-employment, business investment, exports and productivity growth.
  • Tax cuts have clearly been a much greater priority for the Harper government than investments in programs or services, or balancing the federal budget. Revenues continued to fall after 2008-09 when the government first ran a deficit, mainly as a result of corporate tax cuts. Almost all taxes have been reduced. The general corporate income tax rate has been cut gradually but deeply from 22.1 per cent to 15 per cent, with each one percentage point reduction costing $1.85-billion in lost revenue per year according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. The two percentage point cut to the GST introduced in the early days of the government now costs $12.8-billion per year in lost revenues.
  • With respect to the personal income tax, the government has brought in numerous "boutique" tax credits and deductions, a universal child tax credit, and family income splitting, which mainly benefits more affluent families with children at a cost of $2.2billion a year. While it still costs relatively little, the new system of Tax-Free Savings Accounts now allows for contributions of up to $10,000 a year with no cap on total accumulations. This will eventually all but eliminate taxation of investment income such as capital gains as the assets of the richest Canadians are gradually shifted to tax-free vehicles.
  • Opinions obviously differ as to the wisdom of specific tax cuts and their impact on economic growth and social justice. The government argues that lower taxes and smaller government underpin a strong economy, while the critics point to the unfair distribution of winners and losers from tax cuts, weak business investment despite corporate tax cuts and the costs of foregone public investments. One thing is clear. A progressive alternative to the Harper government and ambitious investment plans will be possible only if some part of the massively eroded fiscal capacity of the federal government is restored. Andrew Jackson is adjunct research professor in the Institute of Political Economy at Carleton University, and senior policy adviser to the Broadbent Institute.
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Corporate Canada's cash in tax havens explodes to $199 billion under Stephen Harper | P... - 0 views

www.pressprogress.ca/...9-billion-under-stephen-harper from heather taxes corporation research
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  • y 8, 201
  • Despite claims that raising corporate taxes will lead to "capital flight," Corporate Canada has managed to smash its old record, sending close to $200 billion to tax havens – even as Canadian corporations enjoy their lowest tax rates in recent history  (and among the lowest in the world) thanks to Stephen Harper's Conservatives.
  • Dennis Howlett, Executive Director of the tax watchdog group Canadians for Tax Fairness, explains that although "a small portion of the money in tax havens may be legitimate investments, such as in resorts or operating businesses, most of it is there to avoid paying taxes back home in Canada."
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N.S. tables budget with surplus - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|245142|cbpo|20160420|245174210 NS budget
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  • Cape Breton Post Wed Apr 20 2016
  • While severe cost-cutting measures aimed at reducing bloated deficits have dominated budgets in Atlantic Canada and elsewhere in the country, Nova Scotia's 2016-17 budget tabled Tuesday featured what's become a rarity - a razor-thin surplus of $17.1 million. The province's Liberal government was largely able to pull it off by holding the line on departmental spending while reaping the benefit of a $234 million increase in tax revenue collected mostly through personal income taxes, a 2.6 per cent jump in revenue over last year. In a budget with $10.1 billion in spending, the new surplus figure is an improvement on the $241.2 million deficit forecast in December. Finance Minister Randy Delorey highlighted the budgetary good fortune, but cautioned things could change quickly because the province is "not immune" to global economic slowdowns and shocks.
  • We know economic ups and downs will continue," Delorey said in his address to the legislature. "We also know we are not powerless. We can grow our surplus so we can become a source of stability in this region." Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie scoffed at the surplus, calling it "bogus" and the product of rosy projections for tax revenue. "It's like money is going to rain down into the pockets of Nova Scotians in the coming year and they can tax it," said Baillie. "This budget is going to fall apart the moment the day it hits the real world." Baillie said he doubts the surplus will grow given that employment has decreased over the last three years and added an opportunity was missed to lower the tax burden for Nova Scotians.
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  • NDP Leader Gary Burrill called the budget a "surplus of words." In particular, Burrill was critical of the lack of help for post secondary students and said the government should have moved as New Brunswick did last week to provide more up-front financial assistance. When asked why there had been such a significant swing from deficit projections in December, when Delorey blamed softened government revenues on a drop in tax revenue and offshore royalties, the minister said it was because of a combination of things including more tax information from the federal government.
  • Revenue did soften within departments," he said. "What you will also see though is that through the decisions we made and good management we have reduced our expenses more than the revenue has softened, which has enabled us to improve our position." The budget promises include modest amounts for a series of spending initiatives, many of which were previously announced, while continuing promised multi-year spending in education.
  • There is $6.6 million to improve a childcare system which a recent report said employs the lowest paid early childhood educators in Canada. The government says the money would be used to improve wages and subsidies to parents, although the amount of the increases won't be released until Education Minister Karen Casey gives her official response to her department's report within the next week. Delorey didn't reveal any details either, but did say the funding would push pay for daycare workers "closer to the national average."
  • CUPE Nova Scotia president Dianne Frittenburg said the overall funding figure falls short of what workers in the sector expect. She compared the figure to the $10.2 million included to refloat the ferry from Yarmouth, N.S., to Portland, Maine. "I'm not saying the Yarmouth ferry isn't important but it (early childhood education) should have equal footing," said Frittenburg. In a completely new measure, the budget allocates $7.5 million towards increasing income assistance by $20 a month beginning May 1 for up to 25,000 eligible people.
  • Other spending measures include $3.6 million to help children with autism access specialized therapy and a 25 per cent refundable food bank tax credit for farmers that will cost $300,000. Education will get $21 million as part of a four-year $65 million government pledge. The money includes $6.4 million to cap class sizes up to Grade 6 and $7.5 million to help improve literacy and math skills.
  • The only tax increase in the budget hits smokers, with cigarettes going up two cents each or 50 cents a pack and the tax rate on cigars going up by four per cent at midnight. The moves are expected to bring $15.8 million to provincial coffers. Health spending, at $4.1 billion, takes up 40 per cent of the overall budget. It includes $14.4 million for home care, including home support and nursing. As previously announced there is $3.7 million earmarked for the redesign of the decrepit Victoria General Hospital in Halifax, but no money to replace it.
  • However, in an accounting measure, the government said it was taking a one-time $110 million payment from Ottawa and the Halifax Regional Municipality for the city's new convention centre and applying it to the debt.
  • Officials said the payment on the debt would free up money in the future to launch a multi-year redevelopment of the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre.
  • HALIFAXHighlights of the Nova Scotia budget introduced Tuesday: ° Surplus of $17.1 million is projected on a spending program of about $10 billion. ° Net debt of $15.2 billion in 2016-17. ° Budget provides $6.6 million for childcare with money to increase the parent subsidy and to increase wages for early childhood educators. ° Education will get $21 million, with $6.4 million going toward class cap sizes extended up to Grade 6 and $7.5 million to help improve literacy and math skills. ° There will be $7.5 million for boosting income assistance by $20 a month for people eligible. ° Tobacco tax increased by two cents a cigarette or 50 cents a pack, $4 dollars per carton. ° Government will introduce a new 25 per cent refundable food bank tax credit for farmers at a cost of $300,000. ° $3.6 million for the Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention Program to ensure children with autism access a specialized therapy.
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NDP plan calls for increase in corporate taxes; Voters face starkly different choices a... - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|246199|ntgm|20150917|229446716 from heather ndp federal election
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  • The Globe and Mail Thu Sep 17 2015
  • The New Democratic Party unveiled its economic plan Wednesday, relying on corporate tax increases to pay for a suite of spending programs and promising four years of budgetary surpluses if it forms government next month. The plan, however, came under fire as critics say the party overestimates how much new revenue the corporate tax hike would actually bring in, given the potential for companies to shift profit elsewhere. There were also questions over why the NDP is relying heavily on April's budget numbers as economists have since lowered their forecasts for economic growth and federal revenue.
  • With the release of the NDP numbers, all three major parties have now outlined in broad strokes how they would govern if elected - and their visions are starkly different. The economic plans will be put to the test Thursday evening as the three major party leaders take part in a debate in Calgary on the economy hosted by The Globe and Mail that can be seen online or on the Cable Public Affairs Channel.
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  • The NDP plan to hike corporate taxes could be a flashpoint in the debate as both the Conservatives and Liberals oppose it, saying it would be bad for the economy. The Conservatives are campaigning on their April budget, which cut taxes and promised balanced budgets and more infrastructure spending over the coming years. The NDP say they would balance the books as well, but would fund new programs with roughly $7-billion a year in tax increases, including raising the corporate tax rate to 17 per cent from 15 per cent.
  • On taxation, an NDP government led by Mr. Mulcair says it expects $3.7-billion a year from the corporate tax increase, making it the single biggest source of new revenue in the party's costing plan. "The NDP's fiscal plan that we have announced today is balanced and it is progressive," Andrew Thomson, a former Saskatchewan finance minister who is running for the NDP against Conservative candidate Joe Oliver in the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence, told reporters at an afternoon news conference. Mr. Oliver is the Finance Minister in the Tory government. But questions quickly emerged Wednesday as to whether the corporate-tax estimate may prove optimistic, given that corporations could shift profit to countries with lower rates.
  • With the economy at the top of the list of issues on the minds of voters, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair hopes to persuade Canadians that he is a prudent fiscal manager, and someone who can chart a course to prosperity without driving up debt. The seven-page document released Wednesday in Ottawa includes a chart titled "A balanced plan," but total new spending and total new revenue are not in balance. The chart lists seven sources of new revenue, which add up to $7.2-billion in 2016-17 and increase to $7.5-billion in 2019-20. The chart also lists eight categories of new spending, which add up to $5.8billion in the first year and rise to $11.3-billion in the fourth year.
  • In the document, the NDP says it will rely heavily on a twopoint increase to the corporate tax rate on Jan. 1 as a key source of revenue to pay for billions in new spending on health transfers, daycare spaces and new infrastructure. The party says it can do all of this while planning for surpluses of at least $3-billion a year in each year of a fouryear mandate. The NDP says the document is not the party's full platform, as it still plans to make more detailed announcements throughout the campaign. Critics questioned the New Democrats' reliance on the April budget numbers to project surpluses given that forecasts for economic growth have since been lowered substantially, which will lead to less federal revenue.
  • The Liberals are planning to run deficits for three years to fund major investments in infrastructure, but have not released specific spending and revenue figures for each year. The New Democrats are locked in a tight three-way battle with both the Conservatives and the Liberals as the election campaign enters its final month.
  • Over all, the lack of detailed information provided by the New Democrats made it difficult to determine whether their numbers add up. But, it was clear that some of the promises being made by the NDP Leader have had to be modified to meet his commitment of a balanced budget. Since late 2011, NDP politicians have accused the Conservative government of planning to cut $36-billion over 10 years from health care, starting in 2017-18, by replacing the annual 6-percent increases in health transfers to the provinces with increases based on the growth in nominal gross domestic product.
  • The New Democrats have said they would reverse that decision. And Peggy Nash, the party's industry critic, told reporters on Wednesday that the 6-percent increases to transfers would be restored. But, she said, they would be used to pay for the slate of new health-care initiatives included in the NDP campaign platform such as a mental-health innovation fund, a half-billion dollars over four years for new clinics and to hire doctors and nurses, an Alzheimer's strategy, a seniors-care strategy and whatever other health announcements Mr. Mulcair has yet to make. Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins said the Conservative decision to slash the Canada Health Transfer would result in $8-billion less for health care for Ontario over 10 years and accused the New Democrats of making health-care decisions without provincial input. Absent from the NDP document is a major pledge to increase foreign aid. Mr. Mulcair had promised in May to set a multiyear target to increase foreign aid to 0.7 per cent of GDP, a pledge that could cost more than $8-billion a year if fully implemented. The party confirmed Wednesday that the foreign-aid target will not be met during the first mandate of an NDP government.
  • Canada's federal corporate tax rate had declined to 21 per cent between 2000 and 2007 from 30 per cent in 1980. It has since declined gradually under the Conservatives to 15 per cent as of 2012.
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Taxes: not always a dirty word; Civilized society, with universal health care, is fuell... - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/...210311340 from heather medicare taxes accord
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  • Hamilton Spectator Fri Dec 12 2014
  • "Try to think of a word more hated than "taxes"! Right! Let's lay our cards on the table and say we are talking taxes. Politicians promise lower taxes and, therefore, more disposable income if we vote for them. They turn "taxes" into a hated word. The promise of lowering them is like luring a bear to a honey pot because many of the electorate believe they will be better off financially. This is a myth. One has only to note all the "extras" for which you would fork out on a daily basis - that is, if you are fortunate enough to have the income. It's been said "taxes are what one pays for a civilized society."
  • And we are civilized, aren't we? Taxes pay for all the services we expect to receive in a first-world country: health care, social workers, schools, libraries, bridges, roads, clean drinking water and sanitation, parks, food and building inspectors - and more. If these necessities are not being delivered it's likely Taxes are being misappropriated or are insufficient - or maybe both. It's clear we have allowed ourselves to be bamboozled by politicians who promise that if we vote for whoever is electioneering, we shall have halcyon shopping days using the extra money that otherwise would have been lifted from us in Taxes. The word "bamboozled" is used advisedly. Take our hospitals. In the 21st century, in Canada, are these institutions meeting the needs of all Canadians, no matter the income? The answer is no. This is not to say that there are not many patients who feel they have received good care. But we are talking about "all Canadians" and not only those who have spun the wheel and been lucky. There are so many horror stories in the media concerning mistakes made and neglect of patients that you feel sorry for conscientious staff from all hospital departments who may feel their efforts are not appreciated. These employees go to work each day and do their best, despite being overworked and stressed.
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  • For years polls have told us that health care is Canadians' No. 1 concern. Yet federal governments, in particular the present one, have handed down to provinces insufficient funding, thus our health care system finds itself in palliative care. One cannot mention hospitals without speaking of their fundraising campaigns. No matter how you slice the pie, fundraising doesn't seem to be the way to run a first world health care system. What if donations dry up due to a national or global economic downturn? Solid federal funding, the disbursement of which is scrutinized by an informed electorate, must result in careful management by our health and finance ministers. This is really "standing on guard for thee" and being a proud Canadian.
  • For some time now, Hamilton's hospital walls and elevator doors have been plastered with massive posters of smiling doctors and patients urging us to "make a difference." It would be interesting to know the grand yearly total of staff salaries, equipment, office rents, printing, mail-outs, massive posters, and full-page newspaper and television advertisements. Even our telephone calls are met with the suggestion that the caller might like to make a donation. How can our health care system survive, expand and improve while being so reliant on the whims of donors? Further, let's not forget the multiplicity of other organizations that are also urgently fundraising - health care has to contend with these.
  • And it may not be widely known that it is the current government's intention to make another $36 billion in health care cuts over 10 years after 2015. This doesn't convey a picture of a future robust not-for-profit system which Canadians maintain is their No. 1 concern. If Tommy Douglas, medicare's founder, were to walk hospital corridors today, it is likely he would see this aggressive fundraising as one gigantic begging bowl. It is all so tacky.
  • According to their literature, the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario has set goals for public health, primary care, hospital care, home care and rehab, complex and long-term care. Further, Canadian Doctors for Medicare state its first goal is "to help continuously improve publicly funded health care in Canada." These goals cannot be achieved without a big injection of tax dollars which, spent wisely, enable our public health care professionals to deliver the quality of health care Canadians need and deserve. Think about it! Louise Rogers lives in Dundas.
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Canada Health Transfer: Equal-per-Capita Cash by 2014 - 0 views

www.parl.gc.ca/...cei-14-e.htm cht equalization
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  • The CHT includes a cash transfer and a tax point transfer. The total cash transfer is set in legislation and grows by 6% annually. The tax point transfer corresponds to 13.5 percentage points of personal income tax and 1 percentage point of corporate income tax.
  • Each province’s per capita CHT cash is calculated as a residual (i.e., the province’s per capita share of total CHT less its per capita tax point transfer).
  • CHT cash includes an equalizing component, since the per capita cash transfer is higher for provinces with relatively weak tax point transfers, and vice versa.
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  • In response to the view that interprovincial equity is more appropriately addressed through the Equalization program, in Budget 2007 the federal government committed to remove the equalizing component of the CHT by legislating that the cash transfer move to an equal-percapita allocation in 2014–2015
  • Concerns about the equalizing component of the cash transfer have been raised more recently due to economic shifts resulting from high natural resource prices, a stronger Canadian dollar, and a decline in manufacturing. For example, even though Ontario became a poorer province relative to provinces with abundant natural resources, its per capita CHT cash transfer continued to be lower than average due to its relatively strong tax point transfer.
    • Irene Jansen
      Irene Jansen on 04 Feb 12
       
      Why did Ontario have a strong tax point transfer if its economy (and hence corporate and income tax base) was weak?
  • In response to these recent economic shifts, Budget 2009 facilitated the move to an equal-per-capita cash transfer for Ontario by ensuring that the province immediately receive the same per capita CHT cash as other relatively poorer provinces
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Budget hits where it hurts most - Letter to the editor - The Telegram - 0 views

www.thetelegram.com/...1 from heather NL taxes poverty determinants
shared by Govind Rao on 11 May 15 - No Cached
  • May 11, 2015
  • Prior to the 2007 budget, the top income bracket in Newfoundland and Labrador was taxed at 18.02 per cent. Then Premier Danny Williams introduced significant tax cuts.
  • Finance Minister Ross Wiseman has said the 2015 budget is all about “balancing choices.” In our view, there is little balance in the choices made. Rather than introduce a two per cent increase in the Harmonized Sales Tax, Wiseman could have chosen to significantly increase income taxes on high income earners. This would have been a fairer, more balanced choice that would also help reduce inequality.
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  • As a result, the tax on the highest income bracket was reduced to 16.5 per cent. By 2010, the top income bracket was reduced further to 13.3 per cent. From 2007 to today the government brags that we have the lowest income tax rates in Atlantic Canada.
  • Clearly the beneficiaries of the boom times were high-income earners. With only three tax brackets, if you made $700,000 you were taxed at the same rate as those middle-class individuals earning $70,000.
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World Public Services Day 2015: Fair taxes fund strong public services | Canadian Union... - 0 views

cupe.ca/es-fund-strong-public-services from heather taxes international union corporation
shared by Govind Rao on 23 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • Jun 22, 2015
  • On World Public Services Day, CUPE is calling for corporations to pay their fair share of taxes so we can all have strong public services.
  • It’s a call that crosses borders, targeting multinationals that set up shop in tax havens to avoid paying their fair share. Canadian corporations hid at least $199 billion in offshore tax havens last year, avoiding at least $2 billion in taxes that could have funded public services and infrastructure. Those are the official reported figures: the amounts actually held by unreported by Canadian corporations and wealthy individuals in tax havens are much higher.
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The year taxes made a comeback in Canada | Toronto Star - 0 views

www.thestar.com/...made_a_comeback_in_canada.html from heather taxes
shared by Govind Rao on 06 Jan 15 - No Cached
  • Unexpected voices have started to talk about taxes not as a burden but as a key part of the solution to our challenges.
  • Mon Dec 29 2014
  • Alex Himelfarb Jordan Himelfarb
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • It’s just possible that 2014 will be seen as the year that taxes made a comeback in Canada. Not so long ago Stéphane Dion tried to put a green “tax shift” on the table but apparently we weren’t ready. This is now often cited as proof that a politician would have to be nuts to take on tax reform and beyond nuts to propose any significant tax increase. But perhaps Dion was just a few years ahead of the curve.
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Liberal voters support Ontario government raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy... - 0 views

cupe.ca/...liberal-voters-support-ontario polls taxes
shared by Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Ontarians are worried about the economy, but a majority would not support the Liberal government’s plans to make deep cuts to public services
  • the public overwhelmingly support increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy
  • 90% of Ontarians support a new tax on individuals earning over $500,000 annually, 83% support increasing taxes on banks and the financial industry, 81% support increased corporate taxes, and a plurality of 47% support a new “Robin Hood” tax on financial transactions
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Making minced meat out of Mintz's politicized numbers :: Parkland blog :: Parkland Inst... - 0 views

parklandinstitute.ca/..._of_mintzs_politicized_numbers from heather Alberta corporation taxes
shared by Govind Rao on 04 May 15 - No Cached
  • April 27, 2015
  • posted by Ian Hussey
  • During last week's leaders debate, Jean responded to a question about the NDP platform plank to increase corporate taxes from the current lowest-in-Canada rate of 10% to 12% by saying, "Leading economists have been clear: a 1% increase in corporate taxes means 9,000 jobs. What they're proposing  [the NDP] is to eliminate almost 20,000 jobs in Alberta." It was a talking point that Jean lifted directly from the PC's election platform, which states, "Economist and tax expert Jack Mintz from the University of Calgary has pointed out that a one per cent increase of the corporate tax could cost Alberta billions in investment and 8,900 jobs."
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  • In response, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) pointed out that in the two years following the April 2013 move in British Columbia to increase corporate income tax from 10% to 11%, the BC economy actually added 37,000 jobs. 
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The big lie - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|233683|sjet|20130810|175209518 from heather federal medicare accord ally union
shared by Govind Rao on 13 Aug 13 - No Cached
  • Govind Rao on 13 Aug 13
     
    The Telegram (St. John's) Sat Aug 10 2013 Page: A19 Section: Weekend Opinion Byline: Lana Payne Jim Flaherty, Stephen Harper's finance minister, has become a master storyteller. His latest tale, or at least the one his friends are spinning for him, is the deficit was caused by the great recession of 2009. Like every tale, there is a kernel of truth. This new version of history is necessary in order to perpetuate the falsehood that his government is a good manager of the economy. But this is not a deficit the government can blame on the great recession and the subsequent stimulus budget that followed. Rather, Canada's $18.7-billion deficit has it roots in failed economic policies, decisions made before the world financial crisis, including reckless corporate tax cuts. Remember, because the Conservatives would like us to forget, that this is a government that inherited $13 billion in surpluses. They quickly emptied the cupboard with one tax cut after another... We know that governments don't play hardball with big business. Indeed, our federal government saves all the hardball for the provinces. And the biggest piece of hardball is about to unfold over the next year as provinces tie themselves into knots trying to figure out how to pay for health care given the federal government edict. The current health accord ends in 2014 and Harper, with no consultations, has told the provinces to expect a lot less from Ottawa. After all, he has to pay for those corporate tax cuts. No money for health care, but lots for big business. Expect to be told that health care is unsustainable. That we can no longer afford it. Another big lie....
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How the deck got stacked against young Canadians - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|246471|tost|20151006|230768743 from heather accord funding youth
shared by Govind Rao on 06 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • Toronto Star Tue Oct 6 2015
  • Over the last 10 years, our federal government invested more in the aging population while cutting their taxes. You might think my 71-year-old mother thinks this is good. She doesn't. She knows it means the government paid too little attention to the growing economic and environmental risks facing her kids and grandchildren.
  • This is true, despite one of Stephen Harper's favourite talking points - middle incomes increased on his watch. Out of context, this fact obscures the bigger picture. Compared to a generation ago, twice as many young Canadians now give up years in the labour market to pursue post-secondary schooling to compete for jobs. After spending more time and money in education, young adults struggle to land stable, full-time work with benefits. For those who do, full-time earnings have not kept pace with housing prices.
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • The average person over 55 enjoys more than $165,000 additional wealth in their homes after inflation compared to 1977. I'm glad my mom accumulated this wealth. But she and I wonder why the federal government prioritized cutting taxes for the aging population. Income splitting for seniors costs $1.1 billion annually. The pension income credit costs $1.1 billion. The "age" tax break for anyone over 65 costs $3 billion.
  • Then, we must carry larger mortgages, working an extra month to make annual payments compared to a generation ago - even though interest rates are low compared to the 1980s. For many, this crushes dreams of home ownership, while imposing rents driven by higher property prices. The housing market that frustrates younger Canadians has been good for my mom's demographic.
  • The average cost of housing is up $116,000 after inflation compared to 2005. Housing costs more even as apartments get smaller in our bigger cities. This squeezes younger generations for space, time and money just when we want to start our families. Compared to when Harper began as PM, we must work an extra two to three years to save a 20 per cent down payment.
  • Not done there, Harper doubled the contribution limit for tax free savings accounts in his election budget. Canadians over 60 are three to five times more likely to max out their TFSAs compared to those 18 to 49. TFSAs shelter deposits from further taxation no matter how well investments pay off.
  • He also cut $168 million per year in taxes for affluent seniors by changing rules governing registered retirement income funds - at a cost that is greater in one year than the total Harper added to student grants over the next three. Ironically, the opposition accuses Harper of cutting government spending because of his tax cuts. But this isn't accurate. Annual spending on old age security increased by $8 billion after inflation over Harper's decade, and the Canada Health Transfer increased $10 billion. Forty-seven per cent of health-care spending goes to the 16 per cent of the population over 65.
  • What Harper didn't increase substantially is spending on younger generations. Ottawa contributes to a federal/provincial spending pattern that invests more than $33,000 per person over 65 compared to less than $12,000 per person under 45. This calculation includes the PM's universal child care benefit, and income splitting for one in three families with kids.
  • Harper's main rivals promise to do better, but don't always budget enough. The NDP talks about $15/day child care. But the $1.9 billion they budget isn't a quarter of what is required. The Liberal platform so far budgets the most of the big three parties for families raising kids. But their promise to extend parental leave by six months is backed by too little money to make a meaningful difference.
  • By the platform numbers, the national party last in the polls is currently first for proposing more for younger Canadians. The Greens would eliminate tuition for a first post-secondary degree, and reallocate three times more money for child care services than the NDP. The Greens promise more money than other parties for a national housing strategy.
  • And the Greens are concrete about pricing pollution so that markets ensure younger Canadians aren't primarily left the costs of keeping our air, water, and land clean, while mitigating climate change. No matter which party you prefer, it's time all parties commit Ottawa to reporting how spending breaks down by age, and whether we are leaving at least as much as we inherited.
  • Although such reporting would cost Ottawa only a little staff time, it is a prerequisite for Canada to work for all generations. Dr. Paul Kershaw is a policy professor at the University of B.C., and Founder of Generation Squeeze (gensqueeze.ca).
  • Canada's youth faces a precarious financial future thanks to the actions of the federal government, Paul Kershaw writes. • Melissa Renwick/Toronto Star file photo
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Feds appear set to loosen purse strings; Oliver talks about 'prudent spending' and tax ... - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|243387|vitc|20140813|202076719 from heather federal accord
shared by Govind Rao on 13 Aug 14 - No Cached
  • Times Colonist (Victoria) Wed Aug 13 2014
  • With a multibillion dollar surplus just around the corner, federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver suggests the spending tap is about to be slowly turned back on in Ottawa - just in time for a general election. After years of austerity budgets under predecessor Jim Flaherty, when the Harper government ran deficits in the wake of the 2008 recession, Oliver is talking about "prudent spending," paying down debt and trimming taxes. Next year's spending plan - Oliver's first since taking over the Finance portfolio this year after Flaherty stepped down - is expected to be the first surplus budget in seven years. Kicking off a summer retreat at a quaint country resort in Wakefield, Que., not far from Parliament Hill, Oliver hinted Tuesday that the package would include income tax cuts and other tax reductions, thanks to an expected $6.5-billion surplus. "I'm talking about reducing taxes for Canadian families and individuals, yes," he said in response to a question about whether he plans to cut income taxes.
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The Canada Health Transfer (PRB 08-52E) - 1 views

www.lop.parl.gc.ca/...prb0852-e.htm CHT funding
shared by Doug Allan on 18 Feb 16 - No Cached
  • The total CHT entitlement is expected to reach $36.6 billion in 2008–2009, with the tax point transfer and the cash transfer amounting to $14.0 billion and $22.6 billion respectively. In order to qualify for the cash transfer, provinces must comply with conditions stipulated in the Canada Health Act.
  • The tax point transfer component of the CHT dates back to 1977 when the federal government agreed to reduce its personal and corporate tax rates by 13.5 percentage points and 1 percentage point respectively, thereby allowing provincial governments to occupy that tax room
  • Because the tax point transfer represents a means of raising provincial own-source revenue and is worth more in some provinces than others, it is subject to equalization. (
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • The CHT associated equalization payment is expected to be $1.05 billion in 2008–2009.
  • Figure 1 – Total Canada Health Transfer Entitlement, 2004–2005 to 2008–2009
  • The federal government’s formula for calculating the value of the cash transfer, the tax point transfer and the associated equalization payment under the CHT ensures that the total entitlement provides an equal per capita amount across all provinces. Figure 2 presents the total CHT entitlement amount per capita and per province for 2008–2009. As can be seen, the total CHT entitlement per capita amounted to $1,100 for all provinces.
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15 Inconvenient Truths About Tax Havens | Canadians for Tax Fairness - 0 views

www.taxfairness.ca/...enient-truths-about-tax-havens from heather taxes international corruption corporation
shared by Govind Rao on 05 Apr 16 - No Cached
  • Toby Sange
  • UK, Canadian, US and European banks were instrumental in making most tax havens into what they are today.
  • Many solutions: automatic exchange of tax information, country by country reporting, tougher legislation and enforcement,
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Taxing the rich is good for the economy, IMF says - Business - CBC News - 0 views

www.cbc.ca/...the-economy-imf-says-1.2552141 from heather taxes
shared by Govind Rao on 26 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Research paper debunks theory that taxing rich people slows overall growth
  • Feb 26, 2014
  • A new paper by researchers at the International Monetary Fund appears to debunk a tenet of conservative economic ideology — that taxing the rich to give to the poor is bad for the economy. The paper by IMF researchers Jonathan Ostry, Andrew Berg and Charalambos Tsangarides will be applauded by politicians and economists who regard high levels of income inequality as not only a moral stain on society but also economically unsound.
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