The Government Giveth and the Government Taketh. | GTAMotorcycle.com

The Government Giveth and the Government Taketh.

CruisnGrrl

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[h=1]Harper government will be asking for some of that child care benefit cheque back come tax time[/h]OTTAWA — The federal government handed out almost $3 billion in child benefit payments Monday, but will claw back almost $340 million from families when the tax man comes calling in April.
That estimate doesn’t include provincial taxes, which are likely to account for about $160 million more, based on calculations by The Canadian Press.
The money is coming from the $2.98 billion handed out Monday to families in the form of increased universal child care benefits, which government ministers were touting at events and online.
Employment Minister Pierre Poilievre called it “Christmas in July” for Canadian families.
The enhanced benefit payments arrived on Monday, with the value rising to $160 from $100 for every child in Canada under age six, and a new $60 per month payment for every child age six to 17.
The increased payments are retroactive to the start of the year, meaning the payments this month will be higher than any before: up to $520 for children under six, and up to $420 for every child six to 17. A small number of families will also receive payments for children who had their 18th birthday during the first six months of the year.
The benefit is taxable on the lower income earner in every household. Canadians who received the payments can expect to see some of it taxed next April unless their income is so low that they don’t pay income taxes.
Poilievre’s spokeswoman, Meagan Murdoch, said the taxation rules for the program haven’t changed since it was introduced in 2006.
The government predicts it will earn $140 million in taxes from child care benefit payments in the 2014-15 fiscal year, and $565 million from a full fiscal year of increased benefit payments in 2015-16, or 11.4 per cent of the benefits doled out. The Canadian Press with help from the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation applied that 11.4 per cent figure to the $2.98 billion in benefits to come to the $339 million estimate.
The increase in benefits, combined with the elimination of the child tax credit, will mean middle and upper-income earners will have more of the money taxed back at the end of the year than lower income households, said David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
“You get a cheque and it’s tangible. You have no idea what you’re going to pay back at the end of the year,” Macdonald said.
Angella MacEwan, senior economist with the Canadian Labour Council, said the lower income earner in some families will be moved into a higher tax bracket this year because of the government’s recent decision to allow income splitting. That will marginally increase how much they are asked to pay in taxes on the child care benefit, she said.
Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz said last week the central bank expects about half the money to be spent. The other half would be saved, although Poloz didn’t specify how Canadians would save it.
The government estimates that 200,000 of the four million families eligible for the monthly payments have yet to sign up for the program. Employment and Social Development Canada estimates the three territories, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island, in that order, have the highest percentage of the population who haven’t signed up for the benefits.
Poilievre told The Canadian Press last week the government expects the public focus on the child care benefit will ensure a large percentage of those families sign up.
He said it will take about three weeks for the Canada Revenue Agency to determine how many of the missing families signed up in time.

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So imagine this, you get your new child tax credit and because it's taxable it bumps you into the next tax bracket. Now you're paying more taxes in addition to paying tax on your tax credit. Plus there's provincial taxes on that too. Gotta love the con job the conservatives are doing. Also the non taxable $2255 tax deduction for children has been eliminated and all you'll be getting is the $120 taxable monthly credit ($1440/y).


 



So imagine this, you get your new child tax credit and because it's taxable it bumps you into the next tax bracket. Now you're paying more taxes in addition to paying tax on your tax credit. Plus there's provincial taxes on that too. Gotta love the con job the conservatives are doing. Also the non taxable $2255 tax deduction for children has been eliminated and all you'll be getting is the $120 taxable monthly credit ($1440/y).

I feel that it takes a really special kind of doublethink, to get to the point where you suspect the government is giving you money to bump you into the next tax bracket.

Anyways, that just means that you have to pay a higher percentage of that "free" money back in tax. i.e. Lower income earners get to keep more of it, which is the whole purpose of redistributing income, isn't it?

You do realize don't you that only the portion above the tax bracket cut off is taxed at the higher rate, don't you?
e.g. If you go from a 10% bracket to a 15% bracket, then all your income isn't suddenly taxed at 15%; just the portion above the limit.
 
So the UCCB, the replacement for the child tax credit, is taxable. Why???

Maybe this was already obvious to some people but this is making me angry enough to barf
 
I feel that it takes a really special kind of doublethink, to get to the point where you suspect the government is giving you money to bump you into the next tax bracket.

Anyways, that just means that you have to pay a higher percentage of that "free" money back in tax. i.e. Lower income earners get to keep more of it, which is the whole purpose of redistributing income, isn't it?

You do realize don't you that only the portion above the tax bracket cut off is taxed at the higher rate, don't you?
e.g. If you go from a 10% bracket to a 15% bracket, then all your income isn't suddenly taxed at 15%; just the portion above the limit.


it's still sleight of hand by the conservatives. they give you this taxable tax credit that is less than the non taxable deduction that you already had. Now I don't think the harper government is trying to bump people into the next tax bracket, it's just a bonus to them if it does.
 
What if the folks that sweated about tax brackets took the new found cash and put it into a ESF for the kids or just a RRSP and claimed the tax credit and stuck it to the MAN with his own money??

Too many glass half empty people running around.
 
What if the folks that sweated about tax brackets took the new found cash and put it into a ESF for the kids or just a RRSP and claimed the tax credit and stuck it to the MAN with his own money??

Too many glass half empty people running around.
what new found cash? I don't have kids. Many people at the lower end of the tax brackets depend on those tax credits to make ends meet, now they're short over 1000 dollars and are being taxed on the rest.
 
I don't have kids either...but where can I sign up for a free cheque made from my own taxpayer money that I will be taxed on next year.

stupid cons
 
it's still sleight of hand by the conservatives. they give you this taxable tax credit that is less than the non taxable deduction that you already had. Now I don't think the harper government is trying to bump people into the next tax bracket, it's just a bonus to them if it does.


I'm not getting your point here.

Didn't everyone get the old tax deduction, rich, poor or otherwise?

Does it not make sense to aim tax relief towards the poorer people in our Country?
 
I don't have kids either...but where can I sign up for a free cheque made from my own taxpayer money that I will be taxed on next year.

stupid cons

I heard that somewhere in Greece, you used to be able to sign up to be blind, and collect a nice pension.
One of the blind was caught doing well over the speed limit in his Ferrari or similar.
 
I'm not getting your point here.

Didn't everyone get the old tax deduction, rich, poor or otherwise?

Does it not make sense to aim tax relief towards the poorer people in our Country?

the thing is it's not tax relief, the poor are getting nearly 1000 dollars less per child not counting the part that they're getting taxed on. do the math, before they had a $2255 tax deduction, basically money back from the government, now the government is sending out $1440 throughout the year and taxing the people on it. If the $1440 was in addition to the $2255 that would be a different story.
 
But then the poor get massive daycare subsidies and assorted other measures.

Wife and I make too much to get any subsidy but they still send us the silly $100, now $160 cheque. That really helps offset the $1800 in monthly daycare costs. #lolz
 
It's all a joke. Don't vote for incumbents or anyone else who has a prior record as a politician. Repeat for the rest of your life. It can be better.
 
Wife and I make too much to get any subsidy but they still send us the silly $100, now $160 cheque. That really helps offset the $1800 in monthly daycare costs. #lolz

This is exactly why a national child care plan would serve Canadian society much better than getting some piddly cheque.
 

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