Editor:
Re: Perspective on the problem, June 7 letters.
Would letter-writer David Riley please explain what he calls a “100 per cent tax writeoff” of corporate expenditures on lobbying governments?
Is that a full deduction from tax owing or a deduction from income, thus only a saving at the marginal tax rate of much less than 100 per cent? How does that compare to deductibility of expenses of the many non-business organizations who lobby government? How much money do they spend on lobbying in various ways?
My understanding is that the recent political debate was over deductibility of payments to those organizations by the payers – a.k.a. charitable contributors, who include individuals and large activist trusts. In other words, the debate was over a tax benefit to those who provide income to the organization, not over expenditures of the organization.
Of course, if government were reduced to the essential of protecting individuals against the initiation of force – defence and justice functions – lobbying by anyone would not be a very attractive use of time and money.
Instead, Canada has a tax system that facilitates all manner of promotion of ideas, often by subtle means, such as claiming to help immigrants understand Canada.
Keith Sketchley, Saanich
