Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Anon Poses Some Questions


I received the following as a comment in my previous post, but decided to feature it here, as I suspect the writer would like readers to offer their answers to the questions posed:

I have two questions and an observation:

I do not understand the statement that the Child Tax Benefit, benefits the rich more than the rest of us. For example, in families with a three old child, do the families not receive the same amount regardless of their income bracket? Is it because the benefit is tax free and there is no claw back?

I would like to understand why it is that when a private citizen has a mortgage taken out or the purchase of goods is made using their stolen identity, the police do nothing and say it is a private or a financial matter between the citizen and the bank or credit company.

Ashley Madison has its client accounts stolen and Anonymous threatens to reveal the names if they do not cease to operate. The police begin an immediate investigation. Is it because of the threatened demise of the legal corporate entity or do the clients have more political power or sway over the police?

Please "Square the Corners" for me.


Those are good questions, Anon, but I think I can answer the first one. A story in today's Star reveals that the child benefit payments are taxable and will, in fact, be clawed back from many of the recipients:
The benefit is taxable on the lower income earner in every household. Canadians who received the payments can expect to see some of it taxed next April unless their income is so low that they don’t pay income taxes.
Of course, that begs the question of why the cheques are being sent out to everyone who has applied, no matter their income level. The answer, I fear, is too obvious - to get the most political bang for the buck three months from the election. Says David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:
“You get a cheque and it’s tangible. You have no idea what you’re going to pay back at the end of the year”.
At the end of the year - well after the election.

I invite readers to weigh in here.

2 comments:

  1. The child tax credit amount of about $2.2K per child is being eliminated, but hey, don't tell it to these people or they will realize that the amounts they receive are going to be partially clawed back when they file their taxes next year (after the election, of course): http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/3-things-to-know-about-the-uccb-payments-impact-1.3161108

    In fact the CBC article linked to warns that in general parents should expect to keep only about a third of the nominal amounts they receive.

    But I suspect Harper is betting that most of the low information, low income supporters who support his UCCB payments would not be aware of this until after the election when they file their taxes in Spring, eh?

    And then, if there is another government in power then, these people would blame the NDP or whoever is in power for the claw back.

    Too bad these people are either too dumb, or too disengaged, to realize that they are being played for votes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the insights, Anon. The Harper regime, of course, counts on the disengaged for its continuation in power.

      Delete