Posts Tagged ‘tax’
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The era of offshore bank secrecy is dead
By 2018 Canada will join an agreement with 85 other countries including traditional tax havens such as Liechtenstein, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands. The information being exchanged includes account balances, interest payments, and beneficial ownership… Keeping an offshore account is not illegal. Not reporting the money to Canada and not paying your fair share of taxes is illegal.
Tags: economy, globalization, tax
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
Tax system needs a good cleanup
… the working income tax credit, the disability tax credit, the caregiver tax credit and the child tax credit — have commendable objectives. But suppose Canada had a leader with the courage to eliminate all the loopholes that didn’t serve a public purpose or meet any real need… Federal revenues would go up by an immediate $3.4 billion ($5.9 billion if Harper’s two latest tax breaks are included). That would be enough to produce a comfortable surplus… and alleviate the cost-cutting that has become a permanent feature of federal budget-making.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, tax
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
The tax axe is hovering over Canada’s wealthy
The modern rise in inequality has been disguised, in a sense, by the huge increase in women’s participation rates in the workforce since the late 1970s. Household incomes have benefited accordingly. But the average couple with children is working harder to stay afloat than it did, say, in 1967… the soaring income inequality of the 1930s was reversed by governments that required the rich to pay a greater share. In Canada now that would mean establishing a new marginal income tax rate above the current 29 per cent, for anyone earning $135,000 or more.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
Demonized ‘industrial policy’ puts corporate tax cuts to shame
Corporate tax cuts certainly boost after-tax corporate profits, but have had a negligible impact to date on actual business investment in machinery and equipment and in intellectual property, which are the key building blocks of our future prosperity… real business spending in these vital areas has been flat for the past three years… This raises the question of how much money should be funnelled to the private sector through costly across-the-board tax cuts as opposed to more targeted programs.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Reform taxes, don’t hike them
… structural deficits… are best dealt with through fiscal reforms that make government spending more effective and reduce the economic costs of raising taxes… a crisis should not be wasted if substantial program spending and tax reforms are to be adopted to put the economy on a better track for the long run… An explosion in new taxes will do little for economic growth. Premier Wynne should… reduc[e] the structural deficit with expenditure and tax reforms…
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Forget fairness, here’s why taxing the rich benefits us all
… if government taxes some of the richest people’s money, and hands it to less affluent households, consumption is likely to increase, spurring economic expansion. This would seem to be a better deal for everyone – even the ultra rich, who are likely to benefit disproportionately from the improved growth… policies that encourage economic growth, like free trade, are only going to be politically feasible if voters perceive the benefits to be distributed across a wide range of people, not just a few.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | 2 Comments »
Stephen Harper’s economic luck runs out
The Liberals had bequeathed the Tories a sound fiscal situation and a string of surpluses, so much so that in its early years, the Harperites could cut taxes and still boost spending on their favourite causes… with seemingly no consequences… But the Tories’ real stroke of luck was that resource prices… remained strong even after the financial crisis… There’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of fortuitous circumstances. The problem occurs when you take that luck for granted
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
A winning proposal for tax reform
… the [Fraser Institute] report identified no fewer than 68 tax credits that served mostly political ends and complicate the tax code for no identifiable benefit to society. Total cost: $23-billion… An extra $23-billion in federal revenue would have balanced the books two years ago. Or…it could be used to dramatically lower tax rates on the middle class… at no net cost to the treasury… every party should be able to sign onto a proposal that would make for a simpler tax form, a more efficient economy, and lower tax rates for millions of Canadians.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
We can all take some credit for helping the rich get richer
… there are lots of ideas for reducing inequality. Some… quite simple and workable. Knowing what to do is not the issue. The issue, as usual, is the political will to attack the problem frontally. The NDP is so far proposing a distinctly modest increase in corporate taxes, which is more than its opponents. As of now, with an election less than a year away, the big winner once again, and still champion, is inequality.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Monetarism is dead, finally
It has now been half a century since Friedman first expounded on monetarism and it is increasingly apparent that the time has come to lay his theory to rest… The Bank of Canada first latched onto monetarism during the 1970s, when both inflation and unemployment were near double digits and increasing simultaneously… The last half decade or so has demonstrated that old theories die hard and slow… Experts are finally changing their minds
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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