To the editor:
Re: Province Hopes No One Notices ‘Stealth’ Taxes, letter to the editor, March 14 Capital News.
Carole Bennett doesn’t go quite far enough with her assessment of the B.C. provincial personal tax credits amounts that have been reduced for the 2013 tax year. What is missing is that all dependents, not just a spouse, have a reduced personal tax credit amount. Should you have a dependent spouse and children, each and every one of their personal tax credit value (eligible dependent personal tax credit amount multiplied by 5.06 per cent) goes down by $61.43. As she states, the wage earners’ goes down by $54.54.
You can also visit the Canada Revenue Agency website and confirm Carole is correct that in the past 10 years, each year has resulted in a higher personal tax credit with the exception of 2013 when it has gone down.
Calculating British Columbia tax on taxable income (line 40) minus personal tax credit amounts provides concerning results for families.
A family’s net income in the range of $50,000 to $74,000 with a dependent spouse and one dependent child will pay $162.67 more in taxes in 2013 than in 2012 taxes. Two children—$224.10 more and three children—$285.53 more.
Premier Clark’s promotion of “families first” certainly brings one question to mind: “First” at what!
Another “stealth” tax will be the provincial recycling legislation that goes into effect May, 2014 that will increase the cost of goods and services. Businesses are warning us this legislation will do little but increase our cost of living.
T. Kinsman
West Kelowna
