Flat tax, All in.

[vid]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

How about eliminating the income tax altogether and raise the GST/HST rate?

Poor people still get the shaft. I can save $2,000 a year but all the things I buy cost $3,000 more? Gee, thanks!

[Spocket]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

How about eliminating the income tax altogether and raise the GST/HST rate?

According to popular lore , income tax was supposed to be a temporary tax . So I've heard anyway .

The thing about taxes is that once the government gets its hands on your money , it starts planning how to spend it . In fact , usually it spends the money and then realizes it doesn't have enough so it raises your taxes . The government also isn't big on plebiscites either which means that they'll decide when and by how much your taxes should be raised .

The fact is that politicians makes promises that get them elected and then they realize that they have to make good on those promises if they want to keep their jobs . The general public doesn't seem to like to think too far ahead ... as in "I want a national daycare system." Sure , and if we actually get it , it won't be free . The part that people always seem to forget is that it's not really "the government's" money that's going to be spent , it's our own . Governments just keep spending until there's nothing left and the credit cards are maxed out . THEN you get Greece .

What I'm saying with all of this is that if you want your services , the money has to come from somewhere . Scrap any tax , introduce a flat tax , re-work the entire thing ... it doesn't matter . One way or another you're going to pay for it all . There will be no savings for you and chances are that you'll wind up paying more in the end if you want to re-work everything .

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

How about eliminating the income tax altogether and raise the GST/HST rate?

Because those who live paycheque to paycheque will be in theory paying a higher tax rate than the wealthy.

[leftimage]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Because those who live paycheque to paycheque will be in theory paying a higher tax rate than the wealthy.

Although the idea of eliminating income tax is absurd, sales taxes are not nearly as regressive as you think. Many 'essentials' are not taxed, and many quasi-essentials like transportation, appropriate clothing, etc can be bought used.
supposing something like a 40% sales tax, it's the rich people buying Porsches, million dollar homes and yachts who would bear the brunt of financial hurt.

Don't forget, Harper cut the sales tax. You don't really think he do anything to advantage the poor over the rich, do you?

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by leftimage

Although the idea of eliminating income tax is absurd, sales taxes are not nearly as regressive as you think. Many 'essentials' are not taxed, and many quasi-essentials like transportation, appropriate clothing, etc can be bought used.
supposing something like a 40% sales tax, it's the rich people buying Porsches, million dollar homes and yachts who would bear the brunt of financial hurt.

Don't forget, Harper cut the sales tax. You don't really think he do anything to advantage the poor over the rich, do you?

Is that still true where provinces have harmonized their provincial taxes with the GST? I know that was one of the complaints about the harmonized tax in BC, to simplify things the exemptions one had which the other didn't would be eliminated.

[vid]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Is that still true where provinces have harmonized their provincial taxes with the GST? I know that was one of the complaints about the harmonized tax in BC, to simplify things the exemptions one had which the other didn't would be eliminated.

Some utilities are now taxed at 13% instead of 5%, but otherwise, the taxes didn't change significantly in Ontario. Taxes went down on a lot of things as well; hotel rooms were previously taxed 15% and it was lowered to 13%. The savings for business is the main benefit. It created quite a few jobs in the small business sector.

The problem with what leftimage suggested is that to "afford" to exempt essentials from a sales tax, the sale tax to be increased on the things it does tax. The HST in Ontario would be only about 8%, not 13%, if it taxed everything. And to avoid the sales tax, rich people would just buy their cars and TVs (because after all, it is only rich people who can afford cars and TVs) in other countries. To tax exempt essentials and rely on sales of Porsches and large TV to make up the balance, the tax would have to be several hundred percent. There aren't that many rich people buying Porsches and large TVs!

You could simply have a lower tax on essentials and a higher one on luxury items, which is similar to what the Ontario PST did before it was merged with the GST, but then that adds a layer of complexity.

[DizzyEdge]

I think there's only a few essentials I would consider worth not taxing, like maybe groceries, in fact I'm not sure what else I would exempt, as was mentioned clothes could be bought used. Maybe groceries, gas, electricity, rent and transit fare.

[vid]

School supplies is one that I think went from non-taxed to taxed with the HST. In cities like Thunder Bay, where city planners designed things incredibly poorly, car ownership is virtually essential. Should that not be taxed?

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by vid

School supplies is one that I think went from non-taxed to taxed with the HST. In cities like Thunder Bay, where city planners designed things incredibly poorly, car ownership is virtually essential. Should that not be taxed?

No, because not taxing it would be subsidizing driving vs living closer to your workplace. Personally I'd like to do away with sales tax and just stick with income.