And he got a bruising.
Kevin O'Leary and Armine Yalnizyan debate the ethics of tax shelters
There will be some people using the tax shelters to hide money, O'Leary admitted, but that is a different story from the majority of Canadians using offshore accounts for their capital.
Instead, O'Leary suggested, government institutions like the CRA are part of the problem, not the solution.
"The problem with Canada is the waste and incompetency at multiple levels of government that would take their people and tax them so much, they would do this," he said.
He said further Canada is "the most uncompetitive tax jurisdiction in North America." He said that forces Canadians to take their money elsewhere.
"That's the problem. That's what we should be dealing with. This hopefully highlights this issue," he said. "We need to be competitive. We're taxing our people way too high and they are simply leaving."
Yalnizyan said the tax scheme was competitive in Canada, noting that only after income thresholds of $250,000 are people taxed at 50 per cent.
She invited O'Leary and others who agree with tax shelters to go live in the countries that hold their money.
"Every time a wealthy person that has got millions of dollars to park in an offshore tax shelters decides to take their money away but stay here, they are sticking us with the tab," she said. "We're being treated like suckers because these people are freeloaders — they want to be protected by society but not pay for it."
Panama Papers: Kevin O'Leary and Armine Yalnizyan debate the ethics of tax shelters - CBC.ca | Metro Morning
Kevin O'Leary and Armine Yalnizyan debate the ethics of tax shelters
There will be some people using the tax shelters to hide money, O'Leary admitted, but that is a different story from the majority of Canadians using offshore accounts for their capital.
Instead, O'Leary suggested, government institutions like the CRA are part of the problem, not the solution.
"The problem with Canada is the waste and incompetency at multiple levels of government that would take their people and tax them so much, they would do this," he said.
He said further Canada is "the most uncompetitive tax jurisdiction in North America." He said that forces Canadians to take their money elsewhere.
"That's the problem. That's what we should be dealing with. This hopefully highlights this issue," he said. "We need to be competitive. We're taxing our people way too high and they are simply leaving."
Yalnizyan said the tax scheme was competitive in Canada, noting that only after income thresholds of $250,000 are people taxed at 50 per cent.
She invited O'Leary and others who agree with tax shelters to go live in the countries that hold their money.
"Every time a wealthy person that has got millions of dollars to park in an offshore tax shelters decides to take their money away but stay here, they are sticking us with the tab," she said. "We're being treated like suckers because these people are freeloaders — they want to be protected by society but not pay for it."
Panama Papers: Kevin O'Leary and Armine Yalnizyan debate the ethics of tax shelters - CBC.ca | Metro Morning
