Federal tax cut hurts services, helps wealthy
The Liberals and
Conservatives campaigned on similar promises, but the
Liberals claimed their cut was more progressive. No matter how you slice
it, cutting taxes reduces the amount of money available to provide
services, and this specific tax cut goes mostly to higher income
earners. There’s nothing progressive about that.
Conservatives campaigned on similar promises, but the
Liberals claimed their cut was more progressive. No matter how you slice
it, cutting taxes reduces the amount of money available to provide
services, and this specific tax cut goes mostly to higher income
earners. There’s nothing progressive about that.
It’s especially worrying that the new government’s first priority is a
tax cut, given how deeply federal governments have cut taxes over the
past 20 years. Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin cut corporate tax rates
from 27 per cent to 21 per cent between 2000 and 2004, and cut the
capital gains inclusion rate from 75 per cent to 50 per cent. Capital
gains is income from selling an investment asset like real estate (other
than a primary residence), or stocks, and it is treated differently
than employment income. The inclusion rate is used to calculate what
portion of the profit is considered income for tax purposes.