Federal Government & Politics II

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Yes. US style tax combining would save some high earners a lot of money. There are fairness arguments on both sides. Why should you pay less tax than someone making 150k who is a single parent. Why should you making $100k pay less tax than your colleague who is single? But yes why should you pay more than two people both making $75k now.

You're right and these are social value questions. The Americans do this to impose a penalty on those not married and reward those who are.

I'd argue that a better solution is to give a large Basic Personal Exemption that either parent can claim or split. And let this replace $10/d childcare. Say $20k per child. Parents can then buy whatever daycare they want.

I'm not a fan of income splitting. Cause even when it's rolled back, somehow they still retain it for the old farts. If they aren't going to extend it across the board it should be repealed.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Build.It

The irony is that a lot of JT's policies have been working for me personally, but at the expense of others. I want him to get canned, but also can't deny that on a personal level I'm benefitting from the population surge (great labour market for employers) and upcoming EV mandate (I'm going to make a killing off of it). Even inflation was good for me because my margins increased.

Trudeau Liberals always marketed themselves as a party for the middle class, however it turns out that they are instead a party for the rich. This isn't a good thing, and I'll be voting CPC when I get the chance to do so, but I also can't deny that I personally have unfairly benefited from his policies. If I was a more selfish person I would vote for him again.

The EV mandate is certainly gone with a CPC government.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

We're a couple with a touch of over $150k with me making six figures. We could save like $5k if we were allowed to simply average out. This would be a lot more useful to me than $10/d daycare which we have never succeeded in accessing and increasingly seems like some unicorn that only connected parents find, especially when it comes to school age pre/after school care.

We've had a big "K-shaped" recovery these last few years where some people's incomes have kept pace with (or even outpaced) inflation while others have not. This sort of thing will only get more pronounced in the coming years as the economic changes (the "fourth industrial revolution" as some call it) make some fields of work more lucrative while other fields of work literally disappear with automation. It's not unreasonable to expect that spousal income gaps are going to grow, not shrink, as a result of this trend. Historically, these gaps shrank considerably as the male-female opportunity gap closed and pay-equity for women improved. Income splitting, or any other tax scheme that could be seen as benefitting couples with bigger income gaps, was historically seen negatively by a lot of feminists for this reason.

But in this new age, this doesn't seem relevant anymore. It's becoming almost as common for the woman to be the higher earner in heterosexual marriages.

With the coming automation of a lot of jobs, and the disproportionate concentration of opportunity in specific sectors, a modest revival of single-income households might honestly be a good thing. In this day and age, you'd have plenty of stay-at-home dads with breadwinner moms instead of just the opposite happening all the time, so the gender equity issue is not there anymore.

All this long-winded text to basically say: income splitting should be revisited. Maybe with some sort of cap to prevent the really extreme scenarios of someone with $500k a year splitting income completely with a stay-at-home spouse to save five figures on income tax. (Could be implemented by having a maximum of $100k per year that can be "reassigned" from one spouse to another).

[Truenorth00]

The excuse for income-splitting was to help families. The value behind it was to basically encourage a stay at home parent (usually the woman in the past) and reward all those families that were homeschooling and such.

If we're talking about actually helping families then policies should be designed around the child not rewarding families who can have a parent drop out of the workforce. Some kind of high BPE per child and CCCB mostly accomplishes this goal without all the SoCon ick of trying to send women back into the kitchen.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by niwell

Most of my friends with small kids have been able to access it in Toronto with relative ease - I wonder if it's one of those things that's much more difficult in some areas than others? It's been a lifesaver for them even with combined incomes significantly higher than that considering the current COL here and the uncertainty surrounding renting that's forced people into home ownership when it's a borderline poor financial decision. We know a fair number of people in Ottawa but not sure their situation - most were able to purchase homes before the big spike so maybe not as much of an issue.

Could probably raise it to $20 or something to make it more palatable to childcare centres and it would still be far cheaper than "market" rates for daycare. As with many things in Canada the benchmark for programs in places like Toronto and Vancouver are very different from other areas (though maybe increasingly less so).

My wife makes quite a bit more than I do (tech...) but I'm still over 6 figures and we'd save a bit. Not enough to really be noticeable though.

We should do this, combined with a tax deduction for parents who pay for childcare outside the subsidized system. In addition to increasing choice/flexibility for parents, this would shift some demand away from the subsidized spots.

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

The EV mandate is certainly gone with a CPC government.

Thank God. These rebates are nothing more than a welfare cheque to the well heeled and a personal cheque to Musk, the richest man on the planet. These rebates are the antithesis of equity.

They also have helped maintain higher prices for EVs. Why sell your car at $50k when you can sell it at $55k and the gov't will make up the rest? If EVs are so great they should have to survive like any other product.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Thank God. These rebates are nothing more than a welfare cheque to the well heeled and a personal cheque to Musk, the richest man on the planet. These rebates are the antithesis of equity.

They also have helped maintain higher prices for EVs. Why sell your car at $50k when you can sell it at $55k and the gov't will make up the rest? If EVs are so great they should have to survive like any other product.

Do you know the difference between a mandate and a rebate?

And given that the CPC climate change slogan is "Technology. Not taxes.", I wouldn't bet on the rebates going away. Just the mandates.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Thank God. These rebates are nothing more than a welfare cheque to the well heeled and a personal cheque to Musk, the richest man on the planet. These rebates are the antithesis of equity.

I said the mandates not the rebates. I wouldn't be surprised if those go, but PP loves handouts for the wealthy.

[Truenorth00]

Welcome to feudalism and oligarchy.

Average down payment gift for first-time homebuyers soars into six digits: CIBC

Family gifts to provide or enhance a down payment have kept getting larger and more common among young homebuyers, according to a new analysis by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

The study, which represents an update from a 2021 report, found that nearly a third of first-time buyers now rely on such financial aid, with the size of their average parental cash injection now past the six-figure mark. And a growing share of existing homeowners are also tapping their parents’ purse to be able to upsize to a larger property, the study shows.

“Homebuyers relying on a wealth transfer from their parents in order to purchase a home is becoming the norm in Canada,” report authors Benjamin Tal and Katherine Judge wrote.

The numbers show that 31 per cent of recent first-time homebuyers this year have received a gift for their down payment, up from 20 per cent in 2015. The average amount of the financial aid has also soared, reaching $115,000, 73 per cent above 2019 levels, the authors note.
....

https://www.biv.com/news/real-estate...s-cibc-9141198

[Truenorth00]

Bank of Canada doesn't expect mortgage payments to peak till 2027. Lots of people still in for nasty surprises



And they expect consumption (QoL proxy) to be lower for 5 years:



https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2024/06/...-note-2024-14/

Whoever wins gonna have a fun time....

[acottawa]

Wayne Long, a backbencher from NB is calling for Trudeau to step down.

I think he is the first sitting MP.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Wayne Long, a backbencher from NB is calling for Trudeau to step down.

I think he is the first sitting MP.

Wayne is not planning to reoffer. He has nothing to lose by making this statement.

Perhaps this gives him the freedom to state what his caucus colleagues are whispering behind closed doors.........