you forgot the tax break we gave to banks

we eliminated the corporation capital tax on banks in 2008... giving up 200+ million every year since then... that is another 600+ million we could have in the coffers... has anyone noticed their bank fees going down since then? I certainly haven't.

BCs Hated Tax

One need look no further than the example of both Nova Scotia and the United Kingdom to see what happens to the HST. Nova Scotia residents were bribed into accepting the HST by promises of a lowered overall HST rate than the existing PST/GST combination, albeit on a far wider range of goods. In their 2010 budget, the Nova Scotia government raised their portion of the HST by 2 percentage points to 15% (still on the far wider range of goods and services), nearly negating the alleged tax saving of 1997. Today, the United Kingdom announced that it too is raising their VAT by 2.5 percentage points.

The deal that both BC and Ontario made with the federal government only locks in the HST rate for two years; I think that we can guess what direction the tax will take after the two year clock runs out.

http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/

Liberal Charlatans always misleading with spin

They bragged that the HST was revenue neutral (taxes from big business replaced by taxes from consumers)and now there are saying it's not?

I am sure the Banks thanked Carole Taylor for that tax shift! A directorship perhaps?

Who will be the next Liberal MLA to be rewrded with a directorship ('so that they can spend more time with family')?

HST and Development of a Right to Truth in Election Campaigns

The HST debacle is not the first time Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals promised one thing during an election campaign and then, following their election, did exactly opposite as government. Citizens have a right to "meaningful participation" in elections, and whilst that has thusfar been interpreted to mean 'procedural rights' there is no reason why that reasonable expectation cannot, looking to the future, be expanded to include substantive legal rights, including a right to truth in election campaigns, and if violated, a right to withdraw their consent to a party who violates such a right. Surely we need to look for ways to expand and protect citizen's democratic rights. Also, given the details of the Referendum and Recall legislation there are very slim chances, as others have noted, of being successful in such endeavors. Furthermore, the BC Liberals have demonstrated a willingness to either repeal or significantly amend legislation to further their political purposes - and this may well occur. Twitter me at JusticeNow_2288 regarding your feedback on this, thx.Peter

Making the inbox rounds....

This came out of Ontario but I always love a good laugh at politicians expense:

"Sometime this year, we taxpayers will receive an ' HST Compensation'' payment.

This is indeed a very exciting program, and I'll explain it by using a Q & A format:

Q. What is an 'HST Compensation' payment ?

A. It is money that the provincial government will send to taxpayers.

Q.. Where will the government get this money ?

A. From taxpayers.

Q. So the government is giving me back my own money ?

A. Only a smidgen of it.

Q. What is the purpose of this payment ?

A. The plan is for you to use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China ?

A. Shut up.

Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the economy by spending your compensation cheque wisely:

* If you spend the stimulus money at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China or Sri Lanka ...

* If you spend it on gasoline, your money will go to the Arabs.

* If you purchase a computer, it will go to India , Taiwan or China .

* If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico , Honduras and Guatemala ..

* If you buy an efficient car, it will go to Japan or Korea .

* If you purchase useless stuff, it will go to Taiwan .

* If you pay your credit cards off, or buy stock, it will go
to management bonuses and they will hide it offshore.

Instead, keep the money in Canada by:

1) Spending it at yard sales, or

2) Going to hockey games, or

3) Spending it on prostitutes, or

4) Beer or

5) Tattoos.

(These are the only Canadian businesses still operating in Canada. )

Conclusion:

Go to a hockey game with a tattooed prostitute that you met at a yard
sale and drink beer all day !

No need to thank me, I'm just glad I could be of help."

spend in the US

No sales tax as of the 1st of July.

Why can't BC be like Denmark or Sweden?

Standard rates of VAT/HST in the European Union

Source: European Commission

Austria
20

Germany
19

Netherlands
19

Belgium
21

Greece
23

Poland
22

Bulgaria
20

Hungary
25

Portugal
20

Cyprus
15

Ireland
21

Romania
19

Czech Republic
20

Italy
20

Slovakia
19

Denmark
25

Latvia
21

Slovenia
20

Estonia
20

Lithuania
21

Spain
16

Finland
22

Luxembourg
15

Sweden
25

France
19.6

Malta
18

UK (as of 2011)
20

The Only Response We Can Offer Is Recall

Good article Bill and people are still angry over the deception that the BC Liberals gave us all before, during and after the last provincial election. Recall is the only response that we as an electorate have towards this arrogant, self serving government. What the hell is wrong with the BC Liberals, did they suddenly seem to forget that we all live in a democratic society?, Seems like they have forgotten. No matter recall in the fall.

like others

We can be like the places with high taxes because they money in those country's are spent on big business their taxes go to preventing poverty, health care, education, child care etc
Othe countries must not have corporate welfare or blind-deaf politians

Liberals fear the truth.

Politicians, especially the Campbell types are great for getting us into a mess and then offering "solutions" which favor their voter base. There is never any effort made to determine what it was that got us into this mess, ie. Why are we short of money? Maybe reversing all those corporate friendly tax cuts like the ones to the banks might be a start. Oh no, the solution has to be to go back to the very average income consumer who paid for those same tax breaks. The justification, if that is what you can call it, is always the same: it is good for investors. Right, the same folks who got all the tax breaks that got us here.

They never seem to learn from their mistakes. Understandable because they never admit they made a mistake so the solution is not to back up out of the muck you are in. Even the voter suffers from the same affliction and will vote for the same group that will screw him every time.

Now in desperation that try to spread fear that if they don't have the HST then the world as we know it will cease to exist. The truth is that if we don't have the HST the liberals will be forced to admit that they, and they alone, have created this big hole the province is in. Only then will the BC voter learn the truth be in a position to rid themselves of these incompetents. That is the only thing the BC Liberals and Campbell fear. Their world will collapse and that is cause for a celebration

The HST is not a real Value added Tax

Many of those countries are socialist...VAT is used to subsidize social services not pay off business friends...furthermore, if one is willing to institute the same levels of marginal tax that obtain in many of the listed countries then we could probably come to some resolution.

However, the HST in BC is little more than a regressive switch of tax from corporations onto individual taxpayers and consumers - the suggestion that there is any similarity is, frankly, risible.

re: freebear "I am sure the

re: freebear

"I am sure the Banks thanked Carole Taylor for that tax shift! A directorship perhaps?"

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/AppNoticeArticleHTMLTemplate?tf=GlobeInvestor/AppNotices/DisplayNotice.html&cf=GlobeInvestor/AppNotices/config-neutral.cfg&slug=Taylor&date=20090828

I'm sure it is just a coincidence, however:

Friday, August 28, 2009

From The Globe and Mail

TD Bank Financial Group is pleased to announce the recent appointment of Carole Taylor to its Board of Directors. Ms. Taylor currently serves as the Chair of the Federal Finance Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and also serves as a Governor of the Vancouver Board of Trade. Ms. Taylor holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Toronto and was also appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2001. The appointment of Ms. Taylor brings the total number of directors to eighteen.

Ms. Taylor resides in Vancouver and served most recently as Minister of Finance for British Columbia.

R/M old man....

Now you should post the list of corporate taxes and levies of those same countries........

no services + high taxes

realisticman -
AS I understand it the countries with high taxes don't have CHILD POVERTY ETC
If we got the services those countries got we would be fine with it I am sure. But gordo and gang have mismanaged our money and our resources so badly we would be along time to get near those countries services.

The problem politians don't see is the resources are ours - Yours and mine and they aren't there to give away

Prop 13: Cali's Lesson in Tax Shifting = State Bankruptcy

California shifted their tax base away from business and on to workers in 1978 through Proposition 13 - it is not working out for them, and has added higher volatility to their economy.

BC's shift of $2 Billion annually to consumption tax income will likewise add volatility to our resource based economy. We are already seeing the results with the wood resource based towns main employers trying to shift their property taxes on to residents - this volatility is spreading like a disease through small communities across BC.

The HST will cause BC's tax income flows to Yo-Yo like a drunken sailor at Mardi Gras.

The dream that somehow these multinational foreign based companies will not send excess profits home to their shareholders, but will pass on the savings to consumers can be historically tested. When Canada extended patent coverage to 25 years it was on the promise from industry that companies would use the incentive of added protection to do more research in Canada - didn't happen.

The law may see corporations as persons, but as persons they are psychopathic liars.

My best sports analogy

The Libs are like the me-firster baseball outfielder, the one who, on the crack of the bat, takes three steps in, then rushes out to make a diving catch and look like a hero. It's a risky proposition, because they are deliberately putting themselves out of position to make the safe play.

The Libs have been doing this since 2001, when they took a surplus left behind for them, frittered it away on tax cuts for their rich friends, leaving a big hole. Extricating themselves from the hole makes them look like fiscal geniuses, where had they just been prudent in the first place, the hole never would have been created.

Here we are again. They deliberately understated the budget deficit, then made a deal to get a $1.6B bribe from the feds and then claim that the only two choices are to impose the HST or have a $1.6B hole to fill. It's machiavellian genius all over again.Fundamentally dishonest, you understand, but genius nonetheless.

HST lesson for the Recall

We have about 6500 canvassers working on the HST initiative. When the recall starts we will have an abundance of canvassers more than willing to work on the recall. This initiative has taught us valuable lessons. We know how to get signatures, we know where to set up and where to put our signage. We will be successful in some if not most of the ridings selected for recall. LIbERalS if you ignore this initiative you will be punished. I can't wait to work on Gordo's recall but I have heard I will have to wait in line.

Equipment and Machinery is already PST exempt!

Not only did the banks get the capital exemption in 2008, what is really startling is that, in 2001, the Province eliminated the provincial sales tax on production machinery and equipment.

Um, aren't those the same big ticket expenses that they now say getting a rebate on will stimulate 100,000 jobs and increase investment in BC? How exactly will a rebate on something that mining and forestry companies haven't paid for since 2001 stimulate either of these industries?

Back in 2001, the rationale for giving this huge PST exemption was that it would stimulate jobs and investment in BC (sound familiar?). The forest industry has since lost nearly 40,000 jobs, mills closed, raw logs shipped out and virtually no investment in value added production. BC stills lags the Canadian average on investment in construction equipment on machinery. In other words, the PST exemption for big corporations, like this PST rebate for big corporations, has had no effect whatsoever on jobs and investment here in BC...

The stats don't lie, unlike Campbell and Hansen, the two biggest economic dimwits this province has ever seen.

those large corporations

Are those large corporations benefitting from the tax shift the same type of corporations as the one in the Gulf of Mexico spilling millions of gallons of oil into our oceans? Really really BIG uncaring corporations? Who don't give a shit about you or I, only the money they can squeeze from our blood?

IMHO, the only way to get thru to Campbell is with an economic boycott. JUst shut your wallet on July 1st. Unfortunate it would be that small businesses may suffer, but what can you do? Campbell only lives for business. Hurt business and maybe, just maybe the heat will rise in the kitchen. So far, Campbell is giving every BC'er the finger.

Give him one back.

I believe it is that

I believe it is that simple.

Just yesterday, I got notice that our local family-run theatre is rating the price of a ticket by fifteen percent because the HST will cost them an extra $25,000 per year (these are very honest folks).

Even if the HST was a good idea (and I am far from convinced of that), I would reject it because of Campbell's contemptuously blatant deception in bringing it forward. The end does not justify the means.

Democracy is not dead yet. (Still work to be done, you say, Mr. Campbell?)

HST

I suggest the MLA's cut their salaries by 25% and Campbell by 50% and, frankly, they are not worth what is left. We need to fight to keep these vultures at bay until we can get rid of them in RECALL