Taxing the rich would be great but most of them have their wealth hidden in trusts. Kennedy,Gore,Kerry(Heinz),most politicians in and out of office do not report all of their income open or hidden.
Joel - 12 years ago
I don't believe its being unfair taxing the Rich people of this country more. To be able to work hard and earn a living is more than just our right, its a privilege many around the world do not have. When a person has had earned exceptional wealth and standing in this country, its is not only because they worked hard. It is also because they had the opportunity to make something of themselves. Higher Taxes for the rich do not mean that the poor people in this country will get a check made out to them. It means that everyone else who is struggling for the same goals in this country will have good roads to drive on, will get to attend better schools as children, and will get better medical attention when sick. It's not too much to ask that everyone get the opportunity for success that they have earned, especially considering that their success was in part due to the opportunity's and good health given to them by this country.
Leroy Jenkins - 12 years ago
Funny how you so called rich people on here have such bad grammar.. you sure you didn't inherit that lump some and are just sitting back trolling?
Whitney - 12 years ago
The wealthy should not be penalized for having more money than the rest of us. Many of them have worked hard to get where they are at and taxing them for their hard work makes no sense. I agree with a previous post that if we are going to tax higher income earners, at least give them a say in where the money is going to go - the less fortunate in developing or under developed countries. Canadians have enough tax breaks and subsidies... if we keep providing for them, they will have no motivation to provide for themselves and the cycle will continue generation after generation.
mikegasman - 12 years ago
oooohh im so mad i cant stand it no more you lazy pore people make me so mad.
Lalap - 12 years ago
Canada has been known for their mixed econmy, and fair society, but adding taxes to only the rich is leading canada more and more towards communism. If we take from the rich and give to the poor, what will happen to our economy? No one would want to be an engineer or doctor if they knew that being one would mean tax increase. I agree that the rich can afford it more than the poor, but those who study for 10-15 years to be a doctor will now be wasting their tax money on people who are on the street for drug abuse or just plain laziness. It should be an option to help people, not a responsibility. The life in Canada is fair, we have many jobs available, but why do some not take that oppurtunity? It is unfair. Thank you
I don't think the rich should pay higher taxes. we earn our wealth through hard work and I dont think I would want to work more to pay higher taxes so that the poor can live more luxuriously. Luxury is earned, by hard working and motivation. The majority of Canada have a high standard of living. If we have to pay higher taxes, they should be given to other countries that are in extreme poverty, such as those in Africa. They need the money more than we do. Canadians can easily make a good living. Luxury is not necesssary. If the less wealthier people want luxury, they have to earn it themselves. They cannot depend on the wealthier to support them all the time. Luxury is hard-earned and wealthier people work hard for their luxuries. The extra tax should go to people who absolutely need it. We already have good services in Canada. If the wealthier do pay extra tax, it should go to other cases. Poverty is still a large issue in Canada. There are many homeless people that need more help than the people that are just getting by. Thats why I strongly believe that the wealthier should not pay more taxes.
Toon - 12 years ago
Our tax system is one of the most antiquated of all countries. It goes much deeper than giving tax shelters and deductions to those that can afford to pay their own way. Blanket rules for deductions etc never reach the poor that pay little or no tax, they just safe the middle (voting) class some more money. Our tax system is also fundamentally unfair to stay-at-home mothers, who are presently the only citizens that are not allowed to "income split". I put this in quotation marks as it is not simply a split.
At the same time, some of the elderly are scraping by on OAP and CPP while others are very well off. Yet the same blanket rules apply which mostly benefit the ones that are well off. For example, as long as you pay some income tax you can deduct medical expenses, but if you are really poor and do not pay income tax, you simply do not qualify. How is that fair?
We are such a schizophrenic country when it comes to social services and taxes. We allow people to stay in areas where there is no employment and keep them on welfare. Then when people are trying to better themselves by working, educating, or moving they are generally 'penalized'.
A value added tax like they have in most norther European countries is one of the most fair ways of taxation. It taxes people that can afford luxuries.
Andrew - 12 years ago
Not just the rich - all of us need to pay more taxes. Not a lot more, but a reasonable amount more. It makes very little sense to cut taxes at every level - income, consumption, corporate, etc, and then increase user fees on the basis that only some of us use these services. We all benefit from shared services even if we are not direct users of them. It is true that the wealthy are able to afford greater tax increases (or at least absorb them easier), and therefore are an easy target. Their rate of taxation should be balanced and fair, which will account for their ability to pay. I think it is wrong if we vilify or target wealthy people just because they are wealthy, regardless of whether their wealth is a product of chance, luck or skill. Our recent fetish with low taxation has led to a significant deficit. We have not kept pace funding the services we provide, need and want at all levels - municipal, provincial or federal. This deficit is leading to a situation in which the very infrastructure of our shared services is underfunded. Soon we will begin to think of these as unaffordable, which is just plain wrong. This mentality is the same as if a home owner decided to take a lower paying job because she didn't think it was right for her to earn so much money. Then to compensate for the lower income reduced her maintenance on her house. At first the impact of the reduced maintenance was imperceptible, but with each year of cuts and neglect, the very house itself is made vulnerable - termites, dry rot, crumbling foundations, leakage and drafts, etc. After a while it becomes economically feasible to walk away from the house, sell it for residual property value or owed back taxes. Yet the outcome is not an economic win - buying a new house or renting one will cost more than an on going maintenance plan would have, and since the loss of revenue was ideologically driven and not economically driven, it is a shameful consequence. Reducing taxes for ideological reasons and then cutting valued services is foolhardy. There is sufficient wealth in Canada, personal and corporate to warrant a fairer tax rate for all.
Wayne - 12 years ago
I'm not sure it is necessary to raise the level of taxes the rich or anyone else pays. But what is necessary is to be sure that they pay their taxes. I think we need to get rid of their tax breaks and shelters. You can be sure that big yachet you see Jimmy Paterson cruising around in is mostly all a tax write off as a business expense and everytime they pop the cork on an expensive bottle at their "business lunch" tax write off.
Personnaly I like sales taxes. I know I know..but think about it...if your poor and you shop second hand...no tax or little tax given the price and none on food you cook yourself or from food banks.
If your middle class and a thrifty shopper you pay less tax...a used car no HST etc. If your smart with your money not a shopahaulic or keep up with the Jones's type less taxes..if your not..well a fool and their money.
If your rich...you pay big tax for that armony suit or designer hand bag and really big for that 80thousand plus car and or million dollar house.
Also all the black market under the table people pay sales tax as well as drug dealers and hookers etc. but they don't pay income tax.
The problem is the governments keep bringing in the sales taxs but keep the income tax.
If the BC gov would have cut income tax in half when they brought in the HST they might have got away with it.
I know when Mulroney brought in the GST he new he had to because he was going to desimate manufacturing jobs in Canada...300thousand in 1 year and need to replace the lost income tax..but really if we move away from income tax completly then they are fair.
Boomer - 12 years ago
Make the rich pay more tax - they're the ones who can afford it.
Bonnie - 12 years ago
I do not have wealth, but I do not agree that taking away the incentive for folks who work hard to get ahead financially is going to help anything. If I worked hard to get a lot of money and then had to give it away to others, why would I keep doing that? So then everyone will settle to the lowest common denominator of work ethic in our society and growth will cease.
Perhaps we need more responsible spending in government - letting go of the attitude that the public trough is limitless. As a lower income person, I am not in favour of raising taxes, but of fiscal responsibility for business and government and the populace also.
Richard MacKinnon - 12 years ago
The disparity of wealth in Canada, a disparity which is becoming worse; not better, is making life worse for the majority. The CEO of Bank of America made a 600% increase in his pay package while most of us are not keeping up with the cost of living. There is theft going on but it's been legalized by those who can afford to get laws and regulations changed. And the Conservatives and Liberals have made this possible.
sammy - 12 years ago
All this is class warefare how about the thing abraham lincolin said : all men are created equal. What obama needs to do is lower for everyone taxes. And btw anyone who saids the rich should pay more look at the facts. 50 perfcent of americans pay no income tax 90 percent of the taxes come from the top 1 percent. On average an american pays 10 percent in taxes so dont hate on the rich lower taxes so more revenue will come in!!
Taylor - 12 years ago
The US needs this. I'm so sick of their capitalist outlook over everything. There are millions of Americans without basic healthcare insurance, if you can afford it, why would you not want to help out your fellow citizens. Obama will get a second term because of this, there are too many Americans who can not afford to vote against him.
David The Canadian - 12 years ago
Suddenly, our 2 countries are becoming more and more communist as the clock ticks. I didn't know that you need to take money from rich people and give it to the poor people. Thats called theft. Government sanctioned theft.
RYAN - 12 years ago
I absolutly dissagree with this. Why should I pay more tax because I made the right choices in my education. I had to move to where I could make more money and be prosperous. Why should I have to pay more for the saccrifices I make to be well off?
Taxing the rich would be great but most of them have their wealth hidden in trusts. Kennedy,Gore,Kerry(Heinz),most politicians in and out of office do not report all of their income open or hidden.
I don't believe its being unfair taxing the Rich people of this country more. To be able to work hard and earn a living is more than just our right, its a privilege many around the world do not have. When a person has had earned exceptional wealth and standing in this country, its is not only because they worked hard. It is also because they had the opportunity to make something of themselves. Higher Taxes for the rich do not mean that the poor people in this country will get a check made out to them. It means that everyone else who is struggling for the same goals in this country will have good roads to drive on, will get to attend better schools as children, and will get better medical attention when sick. It's not too much to ask that everyone get the opportunity for success that they have earned, especially considering that their success was in part due to the opportunity's and good health given to them by this country.
Funny how you so called rich people on here have such bad grammar.. you sure you didn't inherit that lump some and are just sitting back trolling?
The wealthy should not be penalized for having more money than the rest of us. Many of them have worked hard to get where they are at and taxing them for their hard work makes no sense. I agree with a previous post that if we are going to tax higher income earners, at least give them a say in where the money is going to go - the less fortunate in developing or under developed countries. Canadians have enough tax breaks and subsidies... if we keep providing for them, they will have no motivation to provide for themselves and the cycle will continue generation after generation.
oooohh im so mad i cant stand it no more you lazy pore people make me so mad.
Canada has been known for their mixed econmy, and fair society, but adding taxes to only the rich is leading canada more and more towards communism. If we take from the rich and give to the poor, what will happen to our economy? No one would want to be an engineer or doctor if they knew that being one would mean tax increase. I agree that the rich can afford it more than the poor, but those who study for 10-15 years to be a doctor will now be wasting their tax money on people who are on the street for drug abuse or just plain laziness. It should be an option to help people, not a responsibility. The life in Canada is fair, we have many jobs available, but why do some not take that oppurtunity? It is unfair. Thank you
I don't think the rich should pay higher taxes. we earn our wealth through hard work and I dont think I would want to work more to pay higher taxes so that the poor can live more luxuriously. Luxury is earned, by hard working and motivation. The majority of Canada have a high standard of living. If we have to pay higher taxes, they should be given to other countries that are in extreme poverty, such as those in Africa. They need the money more than we do. Canadians can easily make a good living. Luxury is not necesssary. If the less wealthier people want luxury, they have to earn it themselves. They cannot depend on the wealthier to support them all the time. Luxury is hard-earned and wealthier people work hard for their luxuries. The extra tax should go to people who absolutely need it. We already have good services in Canada. If the wealthier do pay extra tax, it should go to other cases. Poverty is still a large issue in Canada. There are many homeless people that need more help than the people that are just getting by. Thats why I strongly believe that the wealthier should not pay more taxes.
Our tax system is one of the most antiquated of all countries. It goes much deeper than giving tax shelters and deductions to those that can afford to pay their own way. Blanket rules for deductions etc never reach the poor that pay little or no tax, they just safe the middle (voting) class some more money. Our tax system is also fundamentally unfair to stay-at-home mothers, who are presently the only citizens that are not allowed to "income split". I put this in quotation marks as it is not simply a split.
At the same time, some of the elderly are scraping by on OAP and CPP while others are very well off. Yet the same blanket rules apply which mostly benefit the ones that are well off. For example, as long as you pay some income tax you can deduct medical expenses, but if you are really poor and do not pay income tax, you simply do not qualify. How is that fair?
We are such a schizophrenic country when it comes to social services and taxes. We allow people to stay in areas where there is no employment and keep them on welfare. Then when people are trying to better themselves by working, educating, or moving they are generally 'penalized'.
A value added tax like they have in most norther European countries is one of the most fair ways of taxation. It taxes people that can afford luxuries.
Not just the rich - all of us need to pay more taxes. Not a lot more, but a reasonable amount more. It makes very little sense to cut taxes at every level - income, consumption, corporate, etc, and then increase user fees on the basis that only some of us use these services. We all benefit from shared services even if we are not direct users of them. It is true that the wealthy are able to afford greater tax increases (or at least absorb them easier), and therefore are an easy target. Their rate of taxation should be balanced and fair, which will account for their ability to pay. I think it is wrong if we vilify or target wealthy people just because they are wealthy, regardless of whether their wealth is a product of chance, luck or skill. Our recent fetish with low taxation has led to a significant deficit. We have not kept pace funding the services we provide, need and want at all levels - municipal, provincial or federal. This deficit is leading to a situation in which the very infrastructure of our shared services is underfunded. Soon we will begin to think of these as unaffordable, which is just plain wrong. This mentality is the same as if a home owner decided to take a lower paying job because she didn't think it was right for her to earn so much money. Then to compensate for the lower income reduced her maintenance on her house. At first the impact of the reduced maintenance was imperceptible, but with each year of cuts and neglect, the very house itself is made vulnerable - termites, dry rot, crumbling foundations, leakage and drafts, etc. After a while it becomes economically feasible to walk away from the house, sell it for residual property value or owed back taxes. Yet the outcome is not an economic win - buying a new house or renting one will cost more than an on going maintenance plan would have, and since the loss of revenue was ideologically driven and not economically driven, it is a shameful consequence. Reducing taxes for ideological reasons and then cutting valued services is foolhardy. There is sufficient wealth in Canada, personal and corporate to warrant a fairer tax rate for all.
I'm not sure it is necessary to raise the level of taxes the rich or anyone else pays. But what is necessary is to be sure that they pay their taxes. I think we need to get rid of their tax breaks and shelters. You can be sure that big yachet you see Jimmy Paterson cruising around in is mostly all a tax write off as a business expense and everytime they pop the cork on an expensive bottle at their "business lunch" tax write off.
Personnaly I like sales taxes. I know I know..but think about it...if your poor and you shop second hand...no tax or little tax given the price and none on food you cook yourself or from food banks.
If your middle class and a thrifty shopper you pay less tax...a used car no HST etc. If your smart with your money not a shopahaulic or keep up with the Jones's type less taxes..if your not..well a fool and their money.
If your rich...you pay big tax for that armony suit or designer hand bag and really big for that 80thousand plus car and or million dollar house.
Also all the black market under the table people pay sales tax as well as drug dealers and hookers etc. but they don't pay income tax.
The problem is the governments keep bringing in the sales taxs but keep the income tax.
If the BC gov would have cut income tax in half when they brought in the HST they might have got away with it.
I know when Mulroney brought in the GST he new he had to because he was going to desimate manufacturing jobs in Canada...300thousand in 1 year and need to replace the lost income tax..but really if we move away from income tax completly then they are fair.
Make the rich pay more tax - they're the ones who can afford it.
I do not have wealth, but I do not agree that taking away the incentive for folks who work hard to get ahead financially is going to help anything. If I worked hard to get a lot of money and then had to give it away to others, why would I keep doing that? So then everyone will settle to the lowest common denominator of work ethic in our society and growth will cease.
Perhaps we need more responsible spending in government - letting go of the attitude that the public trough is limitless. As a lower income person, I am not in favour of raising taxes, but of fiscal responsibility for business and government and the populace also.
The disparity of wealth in Canada, a disparity which is becoming worse; not better, is making life worse for the majority. The CEO of Bank of America made a 600% increase in his pay package while most of us are not keeping up with the cost of living. There is theft going on but it's been legalized by those who can afford to get laws and regulations changed. And the Conservatives and Liberals have made this possible.
All this is class warefare how about the thing abraham lincolin said : all men are created equal. What obama needs to do is lower for everyone taxes. And btw anyone who saids the rich should pay more look at the facts. 50 perfcent of americans pay no income tax 90 percent of the taxes come from the top 1 percent. On average an american pays 10 percent in taxes so dont hate on the rich lower taxes so more revenue will come in!!
The US needs this. I'm so sick of their capitalist outlook over everything. There are millions of Americans without basic healthcare insurance, if you can afford it, why would you not want to help out your fellow citizens. Obama will get a second term because of this, there are too many Americans who can not afford to vote against him.
Suddenly, our 2 countries are becoming more and more communist as the clock ticks. I didn't know that you need to take money from rich people and give it to the poor people. Thats called theft. Government sanctioned theft.
I absolutly dissagree with this. Why should I pay more tax because I made the right choices in my education. I had to move to where I could make more money and be prosperous. Why should I have to pay more for the saccrifices I make to be well off?