As we know, the Supreme Court of Canada division of the Liberal Party can find things in our Charter of Rights that aren’t there, and simply jot them in there, thereby, for example, redefining the very most fundamental foundation of our nation, the Canadian family. The Minister of Liberal Justice Irwin Cotler insists on this sort of activity, and Prime Minister Paul Martin ensures that liberals who are simpatico and liberal-left activists are appointed to the bench.
Liberals are in favor of this.
Now we hear through the good Greg Weston at Sun Media’s Ottawa Bureau that by virtue of a Liberal’s verbal commandment from on high, seemingly, the Income Tax Act has been changed. Did you hear the thunder?
There’s so much back-peddling going on these days from the liberals that I’m quite sure we are actually in fact going backward at this time. This, ironically, from a “progressive” Liberal government.
Good times.
[…] The same federal government that is giving its employees more than 50c/km does not allow private corporations to reimburse their workers anything close to that amount.
According to federal tax regulations, it simply doesn’t cost that much to operate a car.
An official at the Canada Revenue Agency says under current tax regulations, companies can only deduct employee car travel claims of up to 36c/km.
Any firm wanting to match the 50c government rate would have to eat the 14c difference on its taxes, while employees receiving it would get pinched for income tax.
More to the point, all those politicians and bureaucrats are technically getting a taxable benefit of 14c/km, and should have to pay income tax on it.
The same duplicity applies to the millions of self-employed Canadians who claim car expenses on their taxes. For them, the federal tax rules stipulate that those car expenses have to be “reasonable,” a term currently defined as a maximum of 39c per kilometre that the vehicle is used for work.
Anyone who tried to deduct 50c/km on his tax return would risk incurring the wrath of the taxman. Until now.
As of yesterday, apparently, all those pesky income tax regulations are just a suggestion from your friendly government.
In a rather stunning response to our enquiries yesterday, a spokesman for Revenue Minister John McCallum said that from now on, Canadian companies and individuals can claim whatever the politicians and bureaucrats are getting for car allowances, and no one from the tax department will call. Honest.
Forget the 36c limit for companies, and the 39c max for self-employed folks. Just go for the 50c and there will be no penalties, no taxable benefits.
“It’s just a guideline,” ministerial spokesman Shane Diaczuk said of the limits in the tax rules.
The taxman will accept whatever is deemed “reasonable,” he said, and that is now defined as whatever the government is paying its own employees.
Good luck finding that in the Tax Act.
COTLER!
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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