[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Grey Fox]

It was bad. TV equivalent of click baits.

[jimmy olsen]

Meanwhile it's coming up on the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge, one of our great nation's finest hours.

To all those who fell. RIP.

I was just reading about a great project connected with that.
http://projects.thestar.com/vimy-ridge-100th-anniversary-vimy-oaks-return/

[Barrister]

Did our taxes yesterday.  I get a $38 refund.  Woo.

It was a reminder though how next year my two most useful deductions are going away - the children's fitness tax credit and the public transit tax credit.  And that's after Trudeau eliminated the universal child care benefit last year.

Thanks Justin.

[HVC]

Did our taxes yesterday.  I get a $38 refund.  Woo.

It was a reminder though how next year my two most useful deductions are going away - the children's fitness tax credit and the public transit tax credit.  And that's after Trudeau eliminated the universal child care benefit last year.

Thanks Justin.

As a conservative you should be pleased that i'm no longer subsidizing you or your kid. No Social State, self sufficiency, and all that jazz!

[Barrister]

Did our taxes yesterday.  I get a $38 refund.  Woo.

It was a reminder though how next year my two most useful deductions are going away - the children's fitness tax credit and the public transit tax credit.  And that's after Trudeau eliminated the universal child care benefit last year.

Thanks Justin.

As a conservative you should be pleased that i'm no longer subsidizing you or your kid. No Social State, self sufficiency, and all that jazz!

I'm no radical libertarian.  I think the government should definitely be encouraging parents to keep their kids active, and should encourage people to use public transit.  And doing so via tax credits is an inobtrusive way of doing it.

[Josephus]

I agree that both those deductions should have been kept. Even though I rarely use public transport (shudder) and don't have kids (shudder). 
The public transport one, especially, seems like a strange one to remove.

Disappointed with Pretty Boy on this.

[viper37]

The public transport one, especially, seems like a strange one to remove.

if really it does not provide the benefits, then I see no problem.

[Barrister]

The public transport one, especially, seems like a strange one to remove.

if really it does not provide the benefits, then I see no problem.

What benefits do you want to see?  It lowered the cost of using public transit (at least for monthly passes).  It wasn't in place long enough to really say for sure whether it affected ridership rates.

[viper37]

What benefits do you want to see?  It lowered the cost of using public transit (at least for monthly passes). 

Lowering the costs is the effect.
The benefit you would expect, from the govt point of view, is an increase in the use of public transit.
It seems right now most people don't bother collecting their bus receipts to claim a tax deduction at the end of the year, and overall, the increase in usage has been minimal.

The goal was to incite people who would not normally use the public transit to use it.  Maybe not massively, but significantly.  And for that, it's been a failure.  If only poor people use the public transit, those who don't pay taxes, then the credit has no use.  You are better off subsidizing cities who wish to expand or make their existing system better (which, I suspect, is the real problem why people don't use it more).

It wasn't in place long enough to really say for sure whether it affected ridership rates.

I thought it'd been around for years?  Could have been for Quebec only.  Not really an expert on tax, especially the stuff that doesn't affect me

[Ancient Demon]

I'm not sure why they wouldn't just lower fares rather than have a tax credit.

[HVC]

I'm not sure why they wouldn't just lower fares rather than have a tax credit.

It's ineffective but still a way of claiming you're helping the poor. 

[Oexmelin]

I'm not sure why they wouldn't just lower fares rather than have a tax credit.

Public transportation is usually managed through a bunch of local institutions that determine fares - it's not run by the federal government.

[Monoriu]

I'm not sure why they wouldn't just lower fares rather than have a tax credit.

Changing tax rates is usually easier to achieve than raising fares.  I am not saying raising taxes is easy, but it is easier than raising fares should the need arise.  Because taxes are usually levied on people who can pay, whereas fares are charged on people who use the service, regardless of affordability.  Therefore lowering fares should almost never be considered, because raising them again in the future often results in insurmountable political difficulties. 

[viper37]

I'm not sure why they wouldn't just lower fares rather than have a tax credit.

It's ineffective but still a way of claiming you're helping the poor. 

poor people don't pay taxes.  By the time they can claim the credit, they already have a gazillion other tax credits and this one won't add.

[Barrister]

I'm not sure why they wouldn't just lower fares rather than have a tax credit.

It's ineffective but still a way of claiming you're helping the poor. 

poor people don't pay taxes.  By the time they can claim the credit, they already have a gazillion other tax credits and this one won't add.

Well no.  It wasn't merely a deduction (which reduces income) but a tax credit (which reduces tax paid).  So yes, someone with income below the minimum taxable amount gets no help, but that's a fairly small number of people.