Barb Gustafson
Two news stories this past week, one from Alberta and one from Saskatchewan, touch on the same touchy subject: taxes. The Edmonton Journal reported that the Alberta government is going to be $2 billion deeper in debt than expected this year, due to declining natural resources revenues, particularly from lower natural gas prices.
Even with a sizeable deficit planned for in the budget, adjustments must be made, it seems.
There are only two ways to fix a budget shortfall: raise taxes or cut services. Something must be done. The days of Alberta being the presumed Mecca of services without the personal tax burden to balance the scale may be over.
At the same time, in Saskatchewan, a government board is suggesting significantly lowering taxes. Enterprise Saskatchewan, which was created by the SaskParty government after its election in November 2007 to guide economic development for the province, has come out with a report recommending a flat 10 per cent personal income tax regime.
The main reason? To make Saskatchewan competitive with Alberta.
A flat 10 per cent tax is attractive, particularly to higher income earners. If you’re at the low end of the income scale, you’re probably paying less than that percentage already. If you’re in the middle bracket, it won’t make much difference.
But if you’re among those relatively few high income earners, a change from 30-plus per cent to 10 is a big difference.
And let’s be honest. The high income earners are the ones who have the ear of government most often. They buy tickets to the premier’s dinners and give generously to the political party, especially when it’s of the right-wing variety. It’s no surprise when a government-appointed board, stacked with friends of the government, suggests drastically lowering taxes.
I don’t like paying income tax, property tax, or the GST, any more than anyone else. What I do like are the government services we can rely upon, like health care, education, policing, firefighting, libraries, and on and on. I appreciate that my parents can rely on Old Age Security to supplement the meagre pensions they would have otherwise, given that farming has a lousy pension plan.
I don’ t like seeing a third of my gross paycheque gone before I get it, but hey, that’s the price of living in Canada and having the multiplicity of social safety nets and government services we do have.
I get annoyed at people, at either end of the income spectrum, who whine about taxes.
If you’re at the lower end, chances are you are benefitting now or have in the past from one of our many safety nets. So be glad that you can contribute, to some extent, to the pool.
And if you’re at the top end, don’t be so self righteous and self important as to think you got to your exalted position all by yourself. Good luck, living in a country that is rich in resources and opportunities, and the work of a whole lot of other people helped you along your way.
So be grateful, and ante up.
Luckily, despite this recommendations coming from its friends at Enterprise Saskatchewan, the actual Saskatchewan government is being cautious about the idea of a flat tax. Perhaps they do realize that the good times we are currently enjoying with strong resource revenue won’t last indefinitely and that taxes are a whole lot tougher to raise than to lower.
Or maybe they, too, read the Edmonton Journal and can learn from Alberta’s troubles.
Happy Canada Day, and smile when you pay your taxes.
Related posts:
- CITY TAXES ARE GOING UP, THE END OF THE WORLD MUST BE AT HAND By Markham Hislop, Editor There are all kinds of silly...
- TAXES ARE CODE FOR “COLLATERAL DAMAGE” Troy Media – By Mark Milke “War never solved anything”...
- WILL CITY OF CALGARY'S NEW DEVELOPMENT PLAN ADD $2 BILLION TO YOUR TAXES? Critics of City's development plan say aldermen folded to pressure...
- MANITOBA’S “ZOMBIE ECONOMY” Troy Media – By Peter Holle The most recent issue...
- EQUALIZATION PUNISHES TAXPAYERS OF ALL PAYING PROVINCES Troy Media – By Mark Milke and Ben Eisen In...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
