[andyt]

These are middle class tax cuts. Many poor people can't afford monthly bus passes, they just don't have that much left over from one check. Same with the sports credit - they still won't have the money for kids sports. As the article points out, those things mostly reward people for what they would do anyway. Nobody is going to get out of their car because they can deduct their transit pass.

If you want the govt to micromanage what people spend their money on, fine. Then don't complain that the tax code is too complicated.

This kind of thing is actually the antithesis of conservatism.

You want to give the working poor a tax break, increase the basic personal exemption and the child tax credit, then let people make their own decisions on what to spend the money on. Pay for it by adding raising the tax on incomes over 130k and adding another, higher bracket on incomes over 200k. You really want to help poor people, give them a refundable tax credit - ie raise the GST credit amount.


As an example - I can't get the transit deduction because a transit pass isn't worth it for me. I bike to work most days, so I use transit but not enough to make buying a pass worth it. So I'm not getting this reward, even tho I'm actually greener than the people who get it. Same thing with the sports deduction - I don't use the gym much because I get my exercise by cycling - not reward for that, yet I'm still keeping myself fit.

[bootlegga]

andyt wrote:

This kind of thing is actually the antithesis of conservatism.

I'm not a conservative (at least not as represented by Harper & Co) - I'm more of a Red Tory or centrist liberal, so I don't care about ideology here.

andyt wrote:

You want to give the working poor a tax break, increase the basic personal exemption and the child tax credit, then let people make their own decisions on what to spend the money on. Pay for it by adding raising the tax on incomes over 130k and adding another, higher bracket on incomes over 200k. You really want to help poor people, give them a refundable tax credit - ie raise the GST credit amount.

What's the difference? Raise basic personal exemption or create a tax credit - from most people'es POV, it makes no difference to them.

Personally, I would have loved to have had a similar program in the early 90s when I was part of the working poor (earning around $13,000 annually working in restaurants).

BTW, if you think the Conservatives will raise tax rates on the rich you're deluding yourself. Hell, they just gave them a new tax-free tool (TFSAs) which are going to cost the federal government tens of billions in the coming decades in lost tax revenues.

andyt wrote:

As an example - I can't get the transit deduction because a transit pass isn't worth it for me. I bike to work most days, so I use transit but not enough to make buying a pass worth it. So I'm not getting this reward, even tho I'm actually greener than the people who get it.

As your own article notes, the credit has nothing to do with rewarding 'being green' so much as it does with increasing ridership. In theory that may sound the same, but I'd bet the Conservatives want increased ridership to allow cities to see increased revenues, which means less grants for transit down the road - kind of like the rationale behind the sports and arts credits - get citizens to fund the services directly so the federal government doesn't have to.

Ideologically from the Conservative's POV, it makes a lot of sense.

andyt wrote:

Same thing with the sports deduction - I don't use the gym much because I get my exercise by cycling - not reward for that, yet I'm still keeping myself fit.

I'm sorry - I didn't realize you were a child - the children's sports credit is solely for CHILDREN, not adults.

[andyt]

The difference is that raising the exemption gives the break to everybody, not the chosen ones. And you don't have to spend money to get it. And it makes for simpler tax returns.

As I said, I don't think the transit deduction will increase ridership - nobody's going to use to stop using their car for a measly little deduction. They'll stop if convenient transit is available and it's significantly cheaper than driving. As Vancouver showed - tax the shit out of parking spaces and provide transit, and they will come.

[OnTheIce]

I'm curious as to what is classified as a low-income person?

Isn't what they get enough already in terms of government support for themselves, their children and daycare?