Don’t be surprised by Liberal taxation hypocrisy
On the heels of pummelling small business with higher taxes, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals backed away Tuesday from targeting a new category of apparent cheats — low-income retail workers.
This latest Liberal tax mess comes courtesy of a plan by the Canada Revenue Agency to tax employee discounts.
So for example, a minimum-wage retail restaurant worker entitled to a free meal during a shift, or the clerk who gets discounted clothing from an employer suddenly swung into the tax-man’s cross-hairs.
Businesses were advised that the value attached to a half-price pair of jeans or free burger and fries should be counted as income, and taxes should be paid on those earnings.
The visceral resulting outrage that spread across the country late Tuesday moved the Liberal government, which has been generally indifferent to Canadian’s protestations over taxes, to clarify its position.
Sort of.
National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier released a statement insisting employee discounts won’t be taxed and effectively blamed the CRA for the screwing things up.
The Canadian Press reported a source in the Minister’s office saying a tax guidance document for employers had been changed by the CRA without her approval.
“We are not targeting individuals working in retail,” Lebouthillier said in a statement.
That much, at least, appears clear.
What is not clear is whether Trudeau’s government intends to more broadly focus its tax collectors on targeting taxable benefits for all workers.
Liberal MP Marco Mendicino told the CBC’s Power & Politics Tuesday the tax guidance document was intended as an exercise in “clarifying” the law.
“If you’ve got an employee discount that is not available to the public at any point in time, then it will be categorized as a taxable benefit,” Mendicino said.
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre wrote on Twitter that “Parliamentary Secretary Marco Mendicino just confirmed on Power & Politics that employee discounts WILL be taxed.”
“Trudeau gov ‘clarification’ says nothing,” Poilievre tweeted. “They still will not say that employee discounts won’t be taxed.”
Which, in a nutshell, frames a key question — why “clarify” the law unless you intend to enforce its provisions, and perhaps more aggressively.
The Liberals have a track record of hypocrisy when it comes to taxes.
Trudeau promised to reduce the burden on small business. Instead, he plans to ruthlessly claw established back tax breaks for small business.
He promised to help the middle class. Instead, as the Fraser Institute recently reported, 81% of all middle-class families (including single and two-parent households) will pay $840 more in federal income taxes this year.
For a government so addicted to spending, this latest hypocrisy hardly surprises.
http://www.torontosun.com/2017/10/10/dont-be-surprised-by-liberal-taxation-hypocrisy
According to the CBC an hour ago, this policy is still a go............
Liberal politicians are scum, Trudeau and Morneau are double plus ungood scummy..
On the heels of pummelling small business with higher taxes, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals backed away Tuesday from targeting a new category of apparent cheats — low-income retail workers.
This latest Liberal tax mess comes courtesy of a plan by the Canada Revenue Agency to tax employee discounts.
So for example, a minimum-wage retail restaurant worker entitled to a free meal during a shift, or the clerk who gets discounted clothing from an employer suddenly swung into the tax-man’s cross-hairs.
Businesses were advised that the value attached to a half-price pair of jeans or free burger and fries should be counted as income, and taxes should be paid on those earnings.
The visceral resulting outrage that spread across the country late Tuesday moved the Liberal government, which has been generally indifferent to Canadian’s protestations over taxes, to clarify its position.
Sort of.
National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier released a statement insisting employee discounts won’t be taxed and effectively blamed the CRA for the screwing things up.
The Canadian Press reported a source in the Minister’s office saying a tax guidance document for employers had been changed by the CRA without her approval.
“We are not targeting individuals working in retail,” Lebouthillier said in a statement.
That much, at least, appears clear.
What is not clear is whether Trudeau’s government intends to more broadly focus its tax collectors on targeting taxable benefits for all workers.
Liberal MP Marco Mendicino told the CBC’s Power & Politics Tuesday the tax guidance document was intended as an exercise in “clarifying” the law.
“If you’ve got an employee discount that is not available to the public at any point in time, then it will be categorized as a taxable benefit,” Mendicino said.
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre wrote on Twitter that “Parliamentary Secretary Marco Mendicino just confirmed on Power & Politics that employee discounts WILL be taxed.”
“Trudeau gov ‘clarification’ says nothing,” Poilievre tweeted. “They still will not say that employee discounts won’t be taxed.”
Which, in a nutshell, frames a key question — why “clarify” the law unless you intend to enforce its provisions, and perhaps more aggressively.
The Liberals have a track record of hypocrisy when it comes to taxes.
Trudeau promised to reduce the burden on small business. Instead, he plans to ruthlessly claw established back tax breaks for small business.
He promised to help the middle class. Instead, as the Fraser Institute recently reported, 81% of all middle-class families (including single and two-parent households) will pay $840 more in federal income taxes this year.
For a government so addicted to spending, this latest hypocrisy hardly surprises.
http://www.torontosun.com/2017/10/10/dont-be-surprised-by-liberal-taxation-hypocrisy
According to the CBC an hour ago, this policy is still a go............
Liberal politicians are scum, Trudeau and Morneau are double plus ungood scummy..
