Save, don't sulk, defiant Flaherty tells cities

[lordmandeep]

now i am saying yes we got a tax cut but really it was rather pointless, as everyone is facing massive property tax increases everywhere in the GTA as there is no real investment in cities.

Saying, really the GSt cut was nice and all, but really if it means we all have to pay this new fee and that tax hike, it was rather useless.

That is why there has been rather lukewarm response to the recent reduction in the GST.

 

[Tewder]

now i am saying yes we got a tax cut but really it was rather pointless, as everyone is facing massive property tax increases everywhere in the GTA as there is no real investment in cities.

Saying, really the GSt cut was nice and all, but really if it means we all have to pay this new fee and that tax hike, it was rather useless.

That is why there has been rather lukewarm response to the recent reduction in the GST.

*sigh* I agree it is frustrating, it is given in one pocket, and taken out of the other and ever is it thus...

 

[Brandon716]

Considering most people live in cities, and this kind of brash announcement and refusal to work with cities to invest infrastructure, it works to the Conservatives disadvantage because this is something that works against *all* cities in Canada right across the board.

I think the Conservative government is working itself back into a small minority government in the longer term. I'm amused that the Conservatives have become such a right wing government. They can't hold the cover and pretend any longer, they are what they are.

 

[unimaginative2]

Governments not investing massive budget surpluses in urban infrastructure is the problem. You think that it is the GST cut that stops these investments? Seems to me you're the one looking through wool-covered eyes.

Yeah, but there is no massive budget surplus anymore, thanks to the GST cut. The Tories are spending $12 billion a year on it, and now this year's surplus is down to $2 billion. They even briefly ran a deficit.

Everybody goes on about how the GST cut is bad economically, and how economist Stephen Harper should know better. He's coming at it from a different angle, however. He thinks that anything that reduces revenue is a good thing, as it forces the federal government to shrink. With a slowdown coming, we'll be thrust into deficit unless Harper makes "unavoidable" cuts. Hell, even Jeffery Simpson -- no radical -- says it.

 

[Brandon716]

I hadn't realized the budget surplus has shrunk from $13 to $2 billion. The GST cut really has cut any potential infrastructure and health investment opportunities that go above and beyond as well as cushion support for bad times.

 

[Hydrogen]

Government spending has gone up as well - regardless of those spend-thrift, frugal Tory overseers.

 

[EnviroTO]

...well as a self-employed business owner I'm quite happy for the extra 2% income in my pocket,

As a self-employed business owner you aren't billing much if you are paying GST. GST is passed on to the end consumer. It would be hard for a profitable business to be paying GST and not getting it back. If your clientèle is international you would actually make money on the GST.

Sales tax is the stupidest place to cut taxes. It is a tax that affects the consumers ability to buy products made anywhere. So cutting a sales tax makes it easier for consumers to buy goods which are increasingly being manufactured in China. Business tax is the tax on Canadian businesses and those taxes are passed down to consumers in the form of higher prices on Canadian goods, so cutting them makes Canadian goods more competitively priced. If anything GST should be raised but more targeted to non-essentials, much like PST is, and business taxes should be lowered instead. If we could eliminate business income taxes we would see an increase in the number of head offices locating here.

 

[lordmandeep]

as a self employed you can get almost all of your GST back on almost everything you get...

You just claim to be part of your business.

Visit to Pizza hut, business lunch...

 

[afransen]

Just don't get audited.

 

[billonlogan]

as a self employed you can get almost all of your GST back on almost everything you get...

You just claim to be part of your business.

Visit to Pizza hut, business lunch...

Since I went to self employed status a couple years ago my tax load has dropped significantly. I get to keep more money and less goes to government coffers. There are many ways to lessen your tax load, just get a good accountant and keep good records. I was audited recently and the auditor commended my well organized bookkeeping. I know people that cheat and take short cuts, but they get caught eventually.

 

[lordmandeep]

yeah you can do good accounting and never get caught ever.

Really do not do anything really over the top...