Canadian Flat Tax Forbidden

[kilkee]

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[CENTER]

Flat Tax is Forbidden

By

James Bredin



Has flat tax been completely forbidden?
By politicians who like to remain hidden,
Tax and spend and free travel overseas,
Sitting and drinking in a tropical breeze.

Can’t discuss this in the dining compartment,
On assignment and it’s not our department,
Was not discussed in caucus or committee,
Next year we’re going to Panama City.

Canadians, you see, love being overtaxed,
Payment for multiculturalism so relax,
Fifty percent of income plus GST,
So complex indeed that no one can see.

Canadians are always quiet and polite,
Plus they have Trudeau’s Charter of Rights,
So who put this flat-tax idea in your head?
The Conservatives – certainly not the feds.

Those who talk flat tax will have to be expelled,
Put in prison or mental home and then held,
This type of stuff cannot be allowed,
Canadians love their taxes and they’re so proud.

Sunday, October 16, 2005[/CENTER]

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[leftcider]

Interesting post... it is rare to see fiscal poetry from the right...

[Nono]

Quote by: quoted by kilkee Canadians are always quiet and polite, Plus they have Trudeau’s Charter of Rights, So who put this flat-tax idea in your head? The Conservatives – certainly not the feds.

Who says it's in their heads, k? You'd like it to be, but it ain't.
Both Liberals and Tories have flattened the tax system considerably in recent decades, especially Mulroney. And Canada is the worse for it. But a flat tax? Canadians weren't voting for the looney right last time I checked.

[rcne]

Just what would be so wrong with a 'flat tax', think how simple the tax code would be. Right now you have to hire CPA's and Tax Attorneys just to figure it out what the IRS (states) requires, with a flat tax they wouldn't be necessary.

That may be why so much opposition to a flat tax is raised, whenever the mere notion of a 'flat tax' is mentioned. The CPA firms, the legal firms and the IRS would be in a downsizing mode.

If Canada can do it - all the better for them.

[Milton Bradley]

If we want to see how the rich would really support a Flat Tax, propose one for income.

[Nono]

Quote by: rcne Think how simple the tax code would be.

That's like advocating a uniform speed limit for all streets/roads/highways everywhere because "think how simple it would be".

One of the main functions of government spending (and therefore the tax-collection that makes it possible) is to redistribute wealth. A flat tax would be just another way to crank up the swagger of the rich.

If Canada can do it - all the better for them.

Canada won't.

[rcne]

The business of collecting taxes and writing the tax code, so that lawyers can interpret it, then the accountants to actually do the work that figure out what you pay, and what you can get away with not paying is just big business keeping themselves in a job.

I'm surprised by those here that support this business/bureaucrat system over a simplified one.

[Nono]

Of course, parasite industries have grown up around it the way they do around the military, say. So what?

Simplification isn't a virtue in itself, rcne. Hitler wanted to simplify the world (only Aryans in charge). So should he have got his way? Or to go back to the speed -limit analogy: 50 MPH on all streets, all roads, all freeways -- how would that be? Well it wouldn't be very acceptable because, concealed behind the fetching simplicity of it all, there lurk a pile of problems.

It's the same for taxes. I pay 'em too -- it's all terribly complicated, sometimes absurdly so.
But a flat tax is just an excuse for rich people not to pay their fair share.

[grandpa]

Quote by: Nono It's the same for taxation. I pay 'em too -- it's all terriby complicated, sometimes absurdly so. But a flat tax is just an excuse for rich people not to pay their fair share.

I think that, if we are to have taxes they should be paid proportionately, meaning different rates. The reasons are fairly obvious.

Grandpa h.

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: grandpa I think that, if we are to have taxes they should be paid proportionately, meaning different rates. The reasons are fairly obvious. Grandpa h.

The constitution states that "taxes shall be levied fairly, and evenly".


So much for well meaning intentions, eh Gramps?

[Protostar]

Quote by: grandpa I think that, if we are to have taxes they should be paid proportionately, meaning different rates. The reasons are fairly obvious. Grandpa h.

Like I have asked many in the past, why should you be punished with higher taxes for being successful? If I bust my ass to get to the top, I should not be punished with higher taxes. That is discouraging to me. Why work harder if more and more of you money is just going to be taken away in taxes? You have to constantly work harder and harder to recoup the money lost in taxes to the government. I think the federal income tax should be abolished altogether, along with the Federal Reserve and all of the entitlement programs. Force the government to make do with less not more, should be our goal.

[rcne]

Quote by: Miltin B The constitution states that "taxes shall be levied fairly, and evenly".

HaHaHa, they are not fair and surely they are not evenly divided. Anyone below a certain level should pay no taxes. They don't pay taxes now so its not a big thing. All others, corporations included, should pay a flat rate - 25% to 28% it is still high, but I wouldn't bitch if everyone else would pay their share.

[northtexan]

Quote by: leftcider Interesting post... it is rare to see fiscal poetry from the right...

Maybe fiscal poetry is rare from the right; but fiscal insanity is the modus operandi, as shown in this poetry. At least Canada has enough sense to not drink the rightwing's Koolaid.

[northtexan]

Quote by: rcne Just what would be so wrong with a 'flat tax', think how simple the tax code would be. Right now you have to hire CPA's and Tax Attorneys just to figure it out what the IRS (states) requires, with a flat tax they wouldn't be necessary. That may be why so much opposition to a flat tax is raised, whenever the mere notion of a 'flat tax' is mentioned. The CPA firms, the legal firms and the IRS would be in a downsizing mode. If Canada can do it - all the better for them.

That Canada can avoid it, so much the better for them.

The complexity of the tax code does reflect the power of the rich to pervert the system to their ends. However, it also reflects the NEED to account for differences in how income is expended.

Quote by: Nono That's like advocating a uniform speed limit for all streets/roads/highways everywhere because "think how simple it would be". One of the main functions of government spending (and therefore the tax-collection that makes it possible) is to redistribute wealth. A flat tax would be just another way to crank up the swagger of the rich. Canada won't.

Exactly -- wonderful comparison!

We need to return to a truly-graduated income tax, not the pale remnant of one under which we now suffer.

[grandpa]

Quote by: Protostar Like I have asked many in the past, why should you be punished with higher taxes for being successful? If I bust my ass to get to the top, I should not be punished with higher taxes. That is discouraging to me. Why work harder if more and more of you money is just going to be taken away in taxes? You have to constantly work harder and harder to recoup the money lost in taxes to the government. I think the federal income tax should be abolished altogether, along with the Federal Reserve and all of the entitlement programs. Force the government to make do with less not more, should be our goal.

We're not talking about "punishing" here--we are talking about proportional taxation.
If we are to have taxation, it should be proportionate.

Grandpa h.

[Protostar]

Quote by: grandpa We're not talking about "punishing" here--we are talking about proportional taxation. If we are to have taxation, it should be proportionate. Grandpa h.

I view it as punishment for becoming more successful and thus a deterrent. If we are to have taxation it should be a flat tax all around. Just because some have the ability to pay more, doesn't mean they should have to.

[Heimdall]

Just because something is long and confusing does not mean it’s the right thing. To days tax codes are a waist of time and money. A flat tax would simplify things and make things fare. In the long run the people of American and Canada would save money on man hours, paper work and research

[Nono]

Heimdall, your line of argument was addressed earlier in the thread.

Quote by: Protostar If I bust my ass to get to the top, I should not be punished with higher taxes.

I love this I-work-my-fingers-to-the-bone stuff. Yeah well so do I. But you know something Prot? The pile you make doesn't really belong to you. And guess what? You can't take it with you.

[tman_ndsu08]

Income taxes, whether flat or extremely complicated, are a pathetic excuse for a tax system.

You think you can account for rich people by having a more complicated code?!

LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rich people protect their money. Esp. from the government.

There are easy ways of getting around income taxes (such as not having an income!).




Has anyone considered a fair tax apprach? IE, a flat national sales tax.

That way, everyone is taxed proportional to the amount that they buy.

[Nono]

Quote by: tman Rich people protect their money. Esp. from the government. There are easy ways of getting around income taxes (such as not having an income!).

And there are ways to get around rich people getting around. It's a matter of political will.

Has anyone considered a fair tax apprach? IE, a flat national sales tax. That way, everyone is taxed proportional to the amount that they buy.

Uhh.. don't they have a sales tax where you live, t? They certainly do in Canada: a federal one and another in the provinces (in Ontario, for example, they add up to 15%).

So everyone is taxed on the amount they buy, including food and other essentials. That's fair? What it means, of course, is that the lower your income the higher percentage of it you have to pay to the government. In a way, that's sort of a perverted income tax in reverse.