Corporate taxes MUST GO. Taxing Corporations is ludicrous!<br /> <br /> [QUOTE BY= FootPrints] New study recommends $60 billion in federal and provincial tax relief to spark Canada's productivity<br /> Thursday January 12, 6:00 am ET <br /> <br /> <br /> VANCOUVER, Jan. 12 /CNW/ - A new study, released today by The Fraser Institute, recommends a five-year, $60 billion plan for federal and provincial business tax relief to spur investment and improve Canada's productivity.<br /> According to the study, "Productivity, Prosperity, and Business Taxes", one of the primary reasons for Canada's slow growth in productivity is a fiscal environment that penalizes investment. Canada has one of the highest tax rates on incremental investment in the world, which discourages the investment critical to improving productivity.<br /> <br /> The main recommendations of the study are:<br /> <br /> <br /> - Reduce the federal corporate income tax rate to 12 percent from<br /> 21 percent ($28.8 billion in federal tax relief).<br /> <br /> - Reduce provincial corporate income tax rates by 30 percent<br /> ($18.3 billion in provincial tax relief).<br /> <br /> - Eliminate corporate capital taxes in their entirety at both levels of<br /> government ($12.0 billion in tax relief).<br /> <br /> - Harmonize provincial sales taxes with the GST or implement<br /> provincial-specific programs that completely exclude business inputs<br /> from sales taxes.<br /> <br /> <br /> The federal measures represent nearly half, 48.8 percent, of the total $59.1 billion in tax relief while the provincial cuts represent the remaining $30.3 billion (see table 1 - http://files.newswire.ca/22/productivity.pdf).<br /> "The dramatic business tax relief proposed would place Canada in the upper echelons for investment and development among industrialized countries," said Niels Veldhuis, co-author of the study and the Institute's associate director of fiscal studies.<br /> <br /> The study provides a number of suggestions that would reduce the net cost of the tax reduction package. For example, many jurisdictions would benefit from broadening their tax bases by eliminating tax incentives that favour one type of investment over another; the federal government alone could save an estimated $17.3 billion over five years by eliminating such incentives. Doing so would reduce the net cost of the proposed federal tax cut from $28.8 billion to $11.5 billion.<br /> <br /> The authors also outline how almost every government in Canada could accommodate the recommended tax cuts if greater control of spending were exhibited. For example, over the past five years Canadian governments increased program spending $42.8 billion above the rate needed to accommodate population growth and inflation, resulting in marked increases in real per-capita spending.<br /> <br /> "The multi-year initiative is affordable given the benefits of improved productivity. In addition, the net cost of the tax relief can be reduced if tax subsidies are eliminated and future spending is controlled," noted Veldhuis.<br /> <br /> Growth in productivity - the increased efficiency with which an economy transforms its inputs into outputs - has a significant impact on future living standards. More productive workers earn higher wages while increased productivity makes Canadian companies more competitive. The study provides a lengthy analysis of Canada's productivity performance.<br /> <br /> Internationally, Canada ranks 18th among 24 industrialized countries for average labour productivity growth over the past ten years. In addition, Canada's labour productivity has decreased from 89.9 percent of that of the United States (1985) to 82.8 percent (in 2004).<br /> <br /> "The data is unambiguous and economists generally agree that Canada faces a serious productivity challenge that must be tackled immediately," stated Veldhuis.<br /> <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/060112/fraserinstitute_study.html?.v=1">continued</a><br /> [/QUOTE]

   

[QUOTE BY= FootPrints] New study recommends $60 billion in federal and provincial tax relief to spark Canada's productivity<br /> Thursday January 12, 6:00 am ET <br /> <br /> <br /> VANCOUVER, Jan. 12 /CNW/ - A new study, released today by The Fraser Institute, recommends a five-year, $60 billion plan for federal and provincial business tax relief to spur investment and improve Canada's productivity.<br /> According to the study, "Productivity, Prosperity, and Business Taxes", one of the primary reasons for Canada's slow growth in productivity is a fiscal environment that penalizes investment. Canada has one of the highest tax rates on incremental investment in the world, which discourages the investment critical to improving productivity.<br /> <br /> The main recommendations of the study are:<br /> <br /> <br /> - Reduce the federal corporate income tax rate to 12 percent from<br /> 21 percent ($28.8 billion in federal tax relief).<br /> <br /> - Reduce provincial corporate income tax rates by 30 percent<br /> ($18.3 billion in provincial tax relief).<br /> <br /> - Eliminate corporate capital taxes in their entirety at both levels of<br /> government ($12.0 billion in tax relief).<br /> <br /> - Harmonize provincial sales taxes with the GST or implement<br /> provincial-specific programs that completely exclude business inputs<br /> from sales taxes.<br /> <br /> <br /> The federal measures represent nearly half, 48.8 percent, of the total $59.1 billion in tax relief while the provincial cuts represent the remaining $30.3 billion (see table 1 - http://files.newswire.ca/22/productivity.pdf).<br /> "The dramatic business tax relief proposed would place Canada in the upper echelons for investment and development among industrialized countries," said Niels Veldhuis, co-author of the study and the Institute's associate director of fiscal studies.<br /> <br /> The study provides a number of suggestions that would reduce the net cost of the tax reduction package. For example, many jurisdictions would benefit from broadening their tax bases by eliminating tax incentives that favour one type of investment over another; the federal government alone could save an estimated $17.3 billion over five years by eliminating such incentives. Doing so would reduce the net cost of the proposed federal tax cut from $28.8 billion to $11.5 billion.<br /> <br /> The authors also outline how almost every government in Canada could accommodate the recommended tax cuts if greater control of spending were exhibited. For example, over the past five years Canadian governments increased program spending $42.8 billion above the rate needed to accommodate population growth and inflation, resulting in marked increases in real per-capita spending.<br /> <br /> "The multi-year initiative is affordable given the benefits of improved productivity. In addition, the net cost of the tax relief can be reduced if tax subsidies are eliminated and future spending is controlled," noted Veldhuis.<br /> <br /> Growth in productivity - the increased efficiency with which an economy transforms its inputs into outputs - has a significant impact on future living standards. More productive workers earn higher wages while increased productivity makes Canadian companies more competitive. The study provides a lengthy analysis of Canada's productivity performance.<br /> <br /> Internationally, Canada ranks 18th among 24 industrialized countries for average labour productivity growth over the past ten years. In addition, Canada's labour productivity has decreased from 89.9 percent of that of the United States (1985) to 82.8 percent (in 2004).<br /> <br /> "The data is unambiguous and economists generally agree that Canada faces a serious productivity challenge that must be tackled immediately," stated Veldhuis.<br /> <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/060112/fraserinstitute_study.html?.v=1">continued</a><br /> [/QUOTE]<br /> <br /> <br /> Corporate taxes have already been cut by 140 billion over the last several years....this is just more left of Canadian wealth with our own government playing the dealer.<br /> <br /> When some people say elites are trying to replace national govenrnments with corporations, they weren't joking.

   

[QUOTE BY= Perturbed] Corporate taxes have already been cut by 140 billion over the last several years....this is just more left of Canadian wealth with our own government playing the dealer.<br /> <br /> When some people say elites are trying to replace national govenrnments with corporations, they weren't joking.[/QUOTE]<br /> <br /> Doesn't matter how you cut it. Tax freedom day is still June 2-5th. And in Quebec it's mid-july.<br /> <br /> We're paying 40-50 percent of every dollar we earn in taxes.<br /> <br /> At BEST, we should be paying 17 percent TOPS of every dollar we earn in taxes...and if we want to pay more, it should be VOLUNTARY.

   

[QUOTE BY= Rabblewatch] [QUOTE BY= Perturbed] Corporate taxes have already been cut by 140 billion over the last several years....this is just more left of Canadian wealth with our own government playing the dealer.<br /> <br /> When some people say elites are trying to replace national govenrnments with corporations, they weren't joking.[/QUOTE]<br /> <br /> Doesn't matter how you cut it. Tax freedom day is still June 2-5th. And in Quebec it's mid-july.<br /> <br /> We're paying 40-50 percent of every dollar we earn in taxes.<br /> <br /> At BEST, we should be paying 17 percent TOPS of every dollar we earn in taxes...and if we want to pay more, it should be VOLUNTARY.[/QUOTE]<br /> <br /> <br /> Where did you get the 17% figure, did you pull it out of your ass? Some people actually like to have civilization.<br /> <br /> Also, what the hell do mean "It doesn't matter where you cut it?" Can't you see that corporate taxes are not designed to benefit you? You think that American corporations that send our jobs overseas will be earning that tax break? Of course not. It's just a giveaway subsidized by YOUR tax dollars, which will go UP to pay for this tax cut, but Alberta boneheads are easy to fool.

   

You have to take anything from the Fraser Institute with a grain of salt. The push to cut taxes has nothing to do with economics, it's all about ideology. The US government has been cutting taxes to the point where it can no longer sustain itself, yet millions of American jobs are leaving the country. There isn't a single week when they don't report that some US company is closing plants and opening up new ones in China or India. Ironically enough, a lot os US jobs are "nearshored" to Canada. So much for the theory that tax cuts generate jobs....<br /> <br /> Having a surplus enables us to be fiscally conservative. Borrowing money, especially for tax cuts, is a disaster and should be avoided at all cost. During good economic times it should be normal to have a budget surplus, so then we have extra cash to pay off our national debt and invest in necessary programs. When times are tough, the surplus will be gone but at least we don't have to borrow... Having said that, the Liberal government in the past 12 years kept our finances in remarkably good shape. They would have deserved another chance just for that. Harper's cronies will do what every conservative government does nowadays: there will be massive tax cuts to the rich, massive gutting of essential expenses and massive deficit. It will be a disaster. Mulroney's henchmen are back to steal what we saved.