High income-tax rates killing competitiveness

[Anonymous]

I have never counted on the government to look after me when I can no longer look after myself. Canada and the US spend a shitload of money on social services, but they deliver shit programs.



Don't believe a word the feds and the provinces say. Ottawa does not deserve a loonie more of our money. They should give everyone a thirty five per cent cut in their taxes and let them manage their own social services like Singapore does. Everyone will get better value for their money. But, the useless fatcat civil service will riot in the streets if that happened

[JOE]

Israel has six tax brackets for individual income and three brackets for passive income,  e.g. flat rental and interest. Corporate tax rate is 23%.



I was surprised until we came here that when provincial and federal taxes are combined plus payroll taxes, Canada has higher taxes than Israel. When combined with provincial rates, everywhere in Canada has higher corporate taxes than Israel.



The social safety net here is not as extensive as in Israel. Health care here only covers the basics. Infrastructure here is third world compared to Israel. If you lose your job or you are self employed you don't have pharma and dental care. Post secondary education is really expensive. There's no income support. There are no school lunch programs. I wondered where all the money went and now I know. Tax money is not being allocated wisely. A bloated and inefficient bureaucracy is consuming too many tax dollars.

Excellent post Gaon..



My family has made similar observations..



We pay so much tax here and three different levels that you would think the state looks after us from cradle to grave, but nothing could be further from the truth..



Besdes having health care that puts Canada to shame, Taiwan has comparable labour insurance, old age pensions, disability pensions without gouging workers and employers alike..



Taiwan's infrastructure is not as good as Korea for example because of the frequency of earthquakes on the island..



There are survivor benefits, self employed pensions, income guarantees that Canada doesn't have..



And Taiwan has done this with much more competitive tax rates than Canada..



Taiwan didn't have to discourage investment with high taxes to pay for services that are as good and in many cases better than Canada.

But Taiwan also has a much smaller landmass.



Its population is mostly homogeneous descendants of Han Chinese.



So the culture is easier to get everyone to fall in line



Canada is much larger and there are hundreds of ethnic groups



So its much harder to unite a country and get things done over such wide distances

[Anonymous]

JOE, did you read Gaon's reply..



Israel is a very new country with a very heterogeneous population that spends more than three times on defense what Canada does as a percentage of it's GDP(Taiwan spends a lot too)..



I can tell you've never travelled or lived abroad which would explain why you believe our governments when they tell us our excessive and growing tax burden is justified and good value.

[Anonymous]

Israel has six tax brackets for individual income and three brackets for passive income,  e.g. flat rental and interest. Corporate tax rate is 23%.



I was surprised until we came here that when provincial and federal taxes are combined plus payroll taxes, Canada has higher taxes than Israel. When combined with provincial rates, everywhere in Canada has higher corporate taxes than Israel.



The social safety net here is not as extensive as in Israel. Health care here only covers the basics. Infrastructure here is third world compared to Israel. If you lose your job or you are self employed you don't have pharma and dental care. Post secondary education is really expensive. There's no income support. There are no school lunch programs. I wondered where all the money went and now I know. Tax money is not being allocated wisely. A bloated and inefficient bureaucracy is consuming too many tax dollars.

Excellent post Gaon..



My family has made similar observations..



We pay so much tax here and three different levels that you would think the state looks after us from cradle to grave, but nothing could be further from the truth..



Besdes having health care that puts Canada to shame, Taiwan has comparable labour insurance, old age pensions, disability pensions without gouging workers and employers alike..



Taiwan's infrastructure is not as good as Korea for example because of the frequency of earthquakes on the island..



There are survivor benefits, self employed pensions, income guarantees that Canada doesn't have..



And Taiwan has done this with much more competitive tax rates than Canada..



Taiwan didn't have to discourage investment with high taxes to pay for services that are as good and in many cases better than Canada.

But Taiwan also has a much smaller landmass.



Its population is mostly homogeneous descendants of Han Chinese.



So the culture is easier to get everyone to fall in line



Canada is much larger and there are hundreds of ethnic groups



So its much harder to unite a country and get things done over such wide distances

So, you would prefer living in a homogeneous country because they spend money better than heterogeneous countries like this one. True, Taiwan doesn't waste billions on it's Aboriginals like we do on Indians. But, Israel spends tons on it's huge Arab population. Old Gaon says the ultra-orthodox are a burden too. But, they still get better results for their tax dollars than we do.

[JOE]

JOE, did you read Gaon's reply..



Israel is a very new country with a very heterogeneous population that spends more than three times on defense what Canada does as a percentage of it's GDP(Taiwan spends a lot too)..



I can tell you've never travelled or lived abroad which would explain why you believe our governments when they tell us our excessive and growing tax burden is justified and good value.

Actually I admire Taiwan Fashionista.



More than anything nations like Taiwan and Costa Rica put the United States to shame.



Both of these nations both have a universal healthcare system while the USA doesnt, and 1/5 of its population had inadequate or no health care.



So these nations care more for their own people than the United States does."



The richest nation in the world does not have proper healthcare but less affluent  ones like Taiwan and Costa Rica do

[Anonymous]

JOE, did you read Gaon's reply..



Israel is a very new country with a very heterogeneous population that spends more than three times on defense what Canada does as a percentage of it's GDP(Taiwan spends a lot too)..



I can tell you've never travelled or lived abroad which would explain why you believe our governments when they tell us our excessive and growing tax burden is justified and good value.

Actually I admire Taiwan Fashionista.



More than anything nations like Taiwan and Costa Rica put the United States to shame.



Both of these nations both have a universal healthcare system while the USA doesnt, and 1/5 of its population had inadequate or no health care.



So these nations care more for their own people than the United States does."



The richest nation in the world does not have proper healthcare but less affluent  ones like Taiwan and Costa Rica do

Canada doesn't actually have universal health care either....pharma, vision or dental care here are not covered under the Canada health act as you know from paying for your bad teeth..



Even counselling and mental health are subsidized in Taiwan..



Canada and the USA spend more on health care than Taiwan, Israel, France, Germany, Singapore, and Japan, but can't cover cover everything and everyone..



And then there are the wait times here..



If you want an MRI, most people prefer to pay at a private clinic rather than wait many months..



Do Canada and the USA not care about their population, do they need more money for resources or are resources allocated poorly?



The answer is clearly the latter..



Which brings us back to the discussion topic..



High taxes due to not getting value for money is killing competitiveness, discouraging investment, killing jobs and lowering living standards.

[JOE]

JOE, did you read Gaon's reply..



Israel is a very new country with a very heterogeneous population that spends more than three times on defense what Canada does as a percentage of it's GDP(Taiwan spends a lot too)..



I can tell you've never travelled or lived abroad which would explain why you believe our governments when they tell us our excessive and growing tax burden is justified and good value.

Actually I admire Taiwan Fashionista.



More than anything nations like Taiwan and Costa Rica put the United States to shame.



Both of these nations both have a universal healthcare system while the USA doesnt, and 1/5 of its population had inadequate or no health care.



So these nations care more for their own people than the United States does."



The richest nation in the world does not have proper healthcare but less affluent  ones like Taiwan and Costa Rica do

Canada doesn't actually have universal health care either....pharma, vision or dental care here are not covered under the Canada health act as you know from paying for your bad teeth..



Even counselling and mental health are subsidized in Taiwan..



Canada and the USA spend more on health care than Taiwan, Israel, France, Germany, Singapore, and Japan, but can't cover cover everything and everyone..



And then there are the wait times here..



If you want an MRI, most people prefer to pay at a private clinic rather than wait many months..



Do Canada and the USA not care about their population, do they need more money for resources or are resources allocated poorly?



The answer is clearly the latter..



Which brings us back to the discussion topic..



High taxes due to not getting value for money is killing competitiveness, discouraging investment, killing jobs and lowering living standards.

I believe what you say is true about Taiwan, Fashionista.



That its medical system is better & more efficient than Canada's



And so are many European countries.



Canada used to be #1, but has slipped to 10th or wirse.



Many visitors fom other nations have remarked tht their medical systems are betterthan Canada's



As for taxes, yes the people have a right to be ticked off at Trudeau & the Liberal Government.



Because after nearly 4 years in power & somewhat decent economic growth, theyre still producing budgetary deficits. And thats inexcusable. If Liberal Prime Ministers Jean Chretien, Paul Martin & Conservative Harper could balance the budget in difficult economic times, why can't Justin Trudeau? And if a socialist NDP government in BC can balance the budget, why can't Trudeau?



Whatever party affiliation, at the end if the day, the leader has to be able to put the ledger in the black.

[Anonymous]

Bills C-49, C-69, C-85 and C-88 will permanently hamper growth, investment, jobs and revenue. Taxes in this country will continue to climb, provincial and federal deficits grow, and middle class resource jobs disappear. If you think our expensive piss poor health care system sucks now, you aint seen nothing yet.



If I was young and didn't own land, I would have stayed overseas. Trudeau has fucked this country irreversibly.

[Anonymous]

Bills C-49, C-69, C-85 and C-88 will permanently hamper growth, investment, jobs and revenue. Taxes in this country will continue to climb, provincial and federal deficits grow, and middle class resource jobs disappear. If you think our expensive piss poor health care system sucks now, you aint seen nothing yet.



If I was young and didn't own land, I would have stayed overseas. Trudeau has fucked this country irreversibly.

All of those bills will indeed reduce revenue that will have to be made up on the backs of individuals since no government in Canada is prepared to show leadership and cut spending like they all did in the nineties. But, all of those destructive bills can be reversed with a change of government. It took fifteen years to reverse the economic destruction of the first Trudeau regime. It will take determination, but we can do it again.