Billions lost through tax loopholes and preferences: Report

I think Toby Sanger is only looking at the tax credit issue in terms of the worst case scenario, where the sole ones to benefit are the business 'fat cats' who earn salaries in the seven-figure ranges.
While almost every modest wage earner would heartily agree that the type of tax credits that only assist the rich to accumulate even more wealth in a manner unavailable to them is inherently unfair, to advocate elimination of all tax credits that the average taxpayer can use is just as unfair. It's like tossing the baby out with the bathwater.
I can attest from first-hand experience that the home renovation tax credit helped to a great degree in reducing the income tax payable of a senior on a modest fixed income while allowing needed repairs to be done on her house. This is in no way comparable to tax-break windfalls for the top income earners. Incidentally, filing the tax return was in no way complicated at all. If anything, these kinds of tax credits that help the average person should be encouraged and not just a one-shot deal as the home renovation credit seems to be.
I can't help but wonder what the motive might be for a senior economist of the CUPE to arrive at the conclusion that getting rid of all types of "targeted" tax credits (without separating the excessive from the most helpful to average Canadians), could be? Here's one explanation that I'm sure will resonate with a lot of average Canadian taxpayers...To a lot of people, the initials CUPE invoke an image of well-paid employment, jobs for life, excellent benefit packages, and generous indexed pension plans. In short, what a goodly number of Canadian wage earners don't all have the luxury of. Could it be that this economist just wants to ensure that the maximum possible amount of taxes that can be collected are available for use in maintaining the lifestyles to which they've become accustomed of the CUPE membership? Sure looks like it to me.

I agree the Mr.Sanger is a "Socialist claptrap". I even question his degree as an economist.

I WOULD NOT HAVE CLAIMED THE HOME RENO TAX CREDIT EVEN FOR THE BENEFIT OF LESS TAXES BECAUSE I DONT TRUST THE GOVERNMENT NOT TO UP THE PROPERTY TAXES BASED ON WHAT YOU CLAIMED FOR THE TAX CREDIT, FOR EXAMPLE. OMG I DID 10,000 WORTH OF RENO TO MY HOME , WHY THAT BROUGHT THE VALUE OF MY HOME UP BY AT LEAST 25,000 , AND GUESS WHAT MY PROPERTY TAXES WILL GO UP BY THIS YEAR. THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T ANYTHING FOR THE PEOPLE WITHOUT GETTING IT BACK AND THEN SOME.

i agree with the comment above

As many Canadians do not contribute to RRSP's to prepare for retirement, many of this same mindset may not go for the Reno initiative. As a new owner of a "fixer upper" I found it timely and fair. Not everyone makes use of tax credits and many miss out because they feel their income is too low to file a tax return. The ones who need it most are likely not to be aware.

Each citizen has to do due diligence on their own behalf.

I say do away with ALL tax breaks, implement a flat percentage rate so that the rich actualy pay taxes, and that they are actualy equal.

I did 30,000.00 worth of work just before the tax credit so it did me no good whatsoever. It took me 5 years to save that money .I guess I just picked the wrong year to do the work. Doesnt seem very fair.

I am sure there were many people who did not apply for the tax credit as we all know what government burocracy can to prevent the credit from reaching the one who has applied for it. We decided to put in air conditioning, put in a more efficient heating system and try to "green up" our home. Unfortunately, a year later, I am still fighting to try and get the tax credit. I have been assessed penalties and sent letters from the government stating that I have not given enough documentation. They have been given all the estimates, the bills of sale, the checks showing paid and statements from the companies that we purchased our products from, and that is still not enough documentation to show that the jobs were done. We spent well over the amount needed to make the maximum claim, but have only had hastles, increased accounting fees and no piece of mind. Sounds like the government did a bait and switch, we spend the money, they look like good guys, we have all the hastles. I suggest that the government come up with something better next time. It will save a lot of accounting fees for us and we won't have to put up with their threating letters.

Hey "AVERAGEGIRL", no real need to yell out your complaints. The fact that the tax rates for property taxes are normally set by the city you live in and affected by the province, while Revenue Canada is under federal jurisdiction makes the balance of your comments, shall we say, less than accurate. While increasing the value of your home will increase your property taxes (assuming the increase in value exceeds the average increase for home prices in your area, the idea of the credit was two fold. It was to increase employment in the construction industry by encouraging people to renovate and also, if a person was smart, to improve the energy efficiency of their homes thereby saving money in the long term and helping the environment.

The idea of a flat tax has been floated for some time however there always seems to be a lot of complaints in all parts of the tax spectrum about certain perceived inequities. For example , eliminating all tax credits could also reduce incentives for people to save for retirement through RRSPs since contributions could no longer be used to reduce the yearly taxes paid. I do agree that certain credits could be simplified and there are probably some that are only available to a small percentage of the population. I lost respect for CUPE years ago since they work for the overall but ignore the individual. Big unions are just the same as big business and react in similar ways.

Disagree with Mr Sanger. The HR Tax Credit; worked for us, one of the few credits that are available to the average worker. There should be more of them to home owner.

First, improving your home will not increase your property taxes. My home's value went up over 100% since I bought and then sold. My property taxes barely moved in that time. What affects property taxes is how much your municipality spends and how much their tax revenue is. To think that painting your home is going to increase your property taxes is ludicrous. Do you think the municipality actually goes from home to home each year analyzing any improvements you've made? hah They look at how much their budget for the next year at how much revenue they need and set taxes accordingly.

As for capital gains tax rates. Does the author believe it is good for the economy to have a stock market crash? Because removing that incentive to investment would surely cause one. It is not only the rich who invest. My whole retirement is based on investment income and I have never made more than $50k a year in my life. Removing that tax break would mean I'd have to work another 5 years or so before retiring. I'm not sure what the motivation of the author is but his lack of logic makes me doubt he has any business speaking on these topics.

I disagree with the discussion on Capital Gains Tax too. The 50% reduction in the rate only applies after taking account of capital losses, then if you consider inflation after realising a capital gain over a peroid of time you have not really gained as much but still taxed on it. So why would you want to invest in enterprises that are startups, higher risk but innovative and bring real wealth to the country. It is difficult enough to obtain finance for these types of companies, why would you want to put more dissinsentives to become smart and innovative.

Toby Sanger is a filthy hypocrite! He hates tax breaks for other people but loves them for his own civil servant pals. Civil servants get DOUBLE the return on pension investments that is permited by law in the private sector......assuming you can find a private sector employer willing to provide a pension at all! Civil servants get the equivalent of a 30% RRSP investment thanks to juicy deals with government employers while the rest of us get a legal maximum of 18% of our income to put into RRSP`s. Its legalized theft.

You have got to be kidding me, we have been in a ressesion people.... where the h... do you think people are going to get the money to renovate when they are barely hanging onto their jobs, if they even have one. Why don't you rich politicians do something about gaas pricies that are gouging us poor. Why don't you damn politicians listen to the friggin problems instead of wondering how to put more money in your own pockets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY< OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love forums like this. You don't have to have an IQ to post a comment. The fact of the matter is very few people can give an unbiased comment. Such is human nature. I was a civil servant until I took a early retirement package 3 years ago. I was never allowed to claim more than my 18% by the way. They dangled a big enough carrot to entice people and then told you if you didn't accept it you would never qualify for another one. That was November 2007, we all know what happened 6 months later. I did all my homework, got the projections from 3 different financial planners and was told unanimously, to go for it. So I did. Since that time I have learned just how bad our tax system is. I did renos on my house, actually took extra money out of my RRSP to do so. My reward, Revenue Canada changed the rules on Income Sharing which basically killed any tax savings I got from the Home Renovation Tax Credit. I spent over $12,000.00 on renovations. Because my pension is not annuity based I no longer qualified for the income sharing tax break. Someone tell me what the difference is. I am being punished for retiring too early, I am 58. Since I have retired I have never paid as much in income tax as I do now. No deductions. To make matters worse there is a serious case of age descrimination in Canada. Sure people will hire you, they just won't pay you much. In the end in order to have the same standard of living I had before I retired, I will have to get a minimum wage job working 40 hours a week plus use my pension income to supplement that. In the end I will run out of money unless I die first. We need tax reform in this country in a big way. The people that make all the money do not pay their fair share and never have. Maybe that is because they have the money to buy influnence. Our system in Canada seems to be set up so that we attack each other over what we perceive someone else has that we don't. Our tax system is anything but fair and all we do is bitch about what we think everyone else has. The real enemy here is our government, doesn't matter what party, and the tax system they push down our throats. We keep on bitching and keep on accepting it. Shame on us.

When are people going to learn that our government doesn't do anything that benefits the" average joe".If they tell you you're going to get a "tax break", be prepared for your hydro bill to go up, or be gouged at the gas pumps. These moron's will tell you what ever you want to hear to get elected just for guaranteed pay checks for the next two to four years. Then when an election looms near they start with the program spending to make it look like they actually are working for you .Governments are a scam on a world wide scale , do away with them and learn to work without them.

Wow narrow minded. Kill the tax advantages. Ton's of cash drain out of our economy. Jobs dissapear. The rich leave. If you don't realize what our goverment does for us. Leave

It really sucks to be me ...54years old single female ..no tax breaks at all .Saved 12,000 this year to cover taxes and get some RRSP's ..been told that I will owe 13,000 in taxes ..so even if I purchase my limit of 10,000 in RRSP's I will still owe 8000 in taxes !!Anyone have a few thousand you can throught my way ?? ..thought so ..And they wonder why there is so much credit(loan) debt in this country . I am not in debt ..never have been .Own my home ( will be paid off on my 60th birthday ) I am very thrifty ..make 2200 /mon and work very hard (hospital worker) for it .And RRSP's are really a rip off (will be spending mine between 60 and 65years ) because my pensions are going to be clawed back enough and CPP is going to be real fun with the changes they are implementing in 2012....Tax breaks for single middle aged people do not exist . and why is my tax bill so high you ask ..long story with probaly no empathy from anyone here .

hmm. I don't invest in RRSPs. there just isn't money. just thankfully took a demotion so I could work from home. have a special needs child and between medications etc. there is nothing left. I'm not complaining one iota. I make less than $40k and it's taking care of me and my son in our own home. If I didn't have the tax breaks, I would just never make it. period. I don't think we are poor. As for retirement I really don't know if I should be worried to death or not. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to live to be 80 or 90 - besides I wouldn't want to - the younger generation now who barely have enough on the ball to hold a job down or even to drive are going to be the ones 'caring' for us in our old age. think about that...scares the crap out of me. I'm just trying to make it from Jan 1 to Dec 31. We are way too extravagant and throw-away a society. Dollar stores are great, but they make us lazy and throw-away wasteful. When we need something now we just go out and get it; perhaps it would do us good to 'save' for something or not give in to every whim of our children and then spend a fortune on them at Christmas because "we've got the get them something" so we go out and spend money to duplicate what they already have. I'm saying 'we' to be generous, but i really try hard to not fall into that trap. I save for things, don't owe a fortune. Have friends who have consolidated MASSIVE credit card debt into their mortgage every few years - mostly from charging stupid stuff - cigarettes - literally money up in smoke, and that dozen beer for a friday night. I can't afford to have a bottle of wine every week, etc. I think I have my priorities straight and I'm not living the life of a quaker either. People say they don't know how I 'do it'. well I don't waste, but I do have fun and I do treat myself occasionally. i think people are living waayyyy beyond their means and need to take a hard look at what they are doing. Reining in the 'me-me-me, now-now-now' life would be a great start. i will have my house paid off before retirement and that's a big priority to me. That's my semi-preachy 5 cents worth.

@ beastof burden
Get a man.
That will solve your problems
heh