Real Family Friendly Tax Reform

Real Family Friendly Tax Reform

Family- friendly tax reform can only be real ‘conservative’ reform. Liberalism and socialism have no realistic solutions that are sustainable or realistic.

Furthermore, to date, liberals have shown no desire, will or a means for a tax situation totally out of hand whereas standard services expected for the people are being left at the curbside and/or paid by non official tax increases such as user fees.

The only definition of tax is how much money is taken by the government from the purses and wallets of citizens..period!

No one is immune to feeling the tax pinch, from the few who have more than they can possibly spend, and to those to care about, those greater masses staggering from the gaping tax wound,
Those especially hurt, the ‘Little Guy’, with family are supposedly close to every politicking party leader. How can any of the mainstream parties ever say that with a straight face, anymore?

One couldn’t list in a single page all the ways and means various levels of government literally scheme to take money from citizens, including downloading service costs to lower governments while brazenly setting the service perimeters.

It has only just been deferred that the city of Toronto will charge automobile taxes in addition to the exact same taxes (not replaced) traditionally charged by the provincial government.
This is akin to the provincial and federal government both taking income tax. Can regional and/or municipal income taxes be far behind?

If only the media could focus on the government we all want and need, instead of favouring and flaunting the most politically- correct and/or grandiose, therefore proportionately, impractical governments that we have bore perpetually, at least, in my lifetime.

Herein, lies just a ‘couple’ of real tax reform initiatives with real bite that will work if tried. The system sure is broke, in fact, haemorrhaging. For one instance, there is no such thing as property ownership when property taxes are equivalent to rental fees.

Firstly, it should be clearly resolved that governments should be designed and focussed to help ‘all’ citizenry, providing the most cost- efficient, quality basic services, with the utmost least rules and restrictions, necessary.

Any government that instates/and or controls socialist programs i.e. health and education, the greatest expenditures in military-less Canada, must also provide the funding, as opposed to making socialist programs law and than downloading costs to lower governments.

It may be a sure way to get a political arm (party) elected by the apparently plentiful myopic and amnesic socialist masses... to create programs and still have election promise money to start even new programs, but it is also the way to break the ‘same’ tax payer to ‘all’ governments.

Any blatant taxes referenced only as special health earmarks or pay- back- the- debt user ‘charges’ (who doesn’t use electricity) in the case of years of mismanaged government electricity provision, to be removed and taken from general tax rate and revenue.

Ending of Municipality or Regional Tax Collection

Less government(s) means less money every single time!
It is not to suggest the ending of municipal funding only the ending of tax rating and collection by municipalities.

As we have seen in this horrible socialist tax experiment in Ontario, federal and provincial governments worked towards clearing the deck of deficits and debts simply by downloading costs to lower tax-collectors and keeping their fingers and toes in the dike by many ‘one-time’ capital ‘gifts’ to keep municipal comer and goer politicians quiet, i.e. Toronto Transit, education and health and ambulance costs.

The province needs to collect all the taxes needed for rightful logical provincial services, and thereby going back to being a much more accountable and responsible province rather than a political parties simple pawn piece.

Municipalities would get money back based on whatever the most logical and fair formula is, with emergency contingents accounted for, for municipal politicians to spend on traditional municipal concerns. This as opposed to left wing save the world hand-wringing paralysing ideologies or conversely Taj Mahal projects, that can’t sustain themselves.

Economy Boosting Property-Tax-Reform

This tax reform would boost the economy under normal markets. I say ‘normal’ markets because nothing jives when average wages in no way support average house costs of 300k

Nor is it a ‘good’ or ‘booming’ economy for ‘families’ when houses costs 300k way ahead of a steady but slow house price increase over the long haul. Good for investors, good for real estate agents good for lawyers...yes! But to turn the domestic housing market into the stock-market is cruel and depressing to new and moderate income families.

Never the socialist, do I suggest government interference as the answer, except maybe in this case to reign in irresponsible financial institutions, that may be playing fast and loose with credit to those who in no way can afford it. The banks must be banking that the bank of Canada won’t raise rates (because of their own irresponsibility) thus bankrupting a heck of a lot of debtors and young families pretty much destroying the whole economy.

Under ‘normal’ affordable market conditions properties should not be taxed solely by the value of the property but for the good of the family or senior by the income of the present owner thru a means test.

All single dwelling properties in the province would be assessed exactly the same with a large city location-preference only variance or scale. In other words, every single dwelling property in Toronto would be assessed under the same formula, whereas every rural dwelling would be assessed the same.

The owner(s) of the property would pay full taxes (hopefully not at the ‘rental’ rates now set) if they made a level of mid- middle-income or above, taking into account number of children or seniors dependant and living in the same house, easily based on income tax information, provided.

Those below this income level would pay less taxes accordingly. Property ownership should not be prohibitive on the bases of taxes alone, certainly not, at the ridiculous rates now charged thanks to downloading and irresponsible government on all levels.

Governments can interfere with taxes all they want if they want to cut back on socialist services, the private industry will pick-up, including private health care insurance/services and vouchers for choice of public or private schools.

They can also save a pile of money along with families and only disappoint unions and socialists. aka private, or special interest groups effecting the due and proper freedom of others.

Paul Gordon
Pickering Ont.