Income tax is the biggest lie any government ever told and it gets worse every year.
Originally imposed on unsuspecting but loyal Canadians, income tax was proclaimed as a short term necessary measure that the federal government claimed was needed to pay off the leftover accumulated debts from the First World War.
There’s another big lie for you. How can anyone describe a four-year period of the savagery of war as ‘great’? Of course, it was only a Great War until the United States entered the conflict, which was then quickly boosted to World War status.
In the four years of conflict, tens of millions of people died in battle and other ravages, such as disease. I find it impossible to detect any greatness in these events.
However, I digress. If there was anything truly great about the war, it was the great debt which piled up and had to be repaid to foreign sources, such as the United States. The sale of war bonds hadn’t made much of a mark on the outstanding totals and the government was left to find ways to satisfy the debts.
The First World War was billed as the war to end all wars, but that was a lie just the same as income tax was a temporary measure to pay off war debts. Wars continue to be waged today and income tax also continues unabated.
Sir Robert Borden, a man who could never make up his mind if he was a Laurier Liberal or some sort of Conservative, led the federal government to impose the odious measure of income tax. In any event, income tax was introduced shortly after the end of the war as a temporary measure to pay off the war debts.
That must have been one hell of a debt because we’re apparently still paying it. I mean, after all, if the debt was paid, wouldn’t the government quit collecting the tax?
Most Canadians don’t relish the thought of coughing up hard earned money to keep the country moving and pay for whatever is perceived as public need, although we seldom object too loudly. But Borden’s little lie has gone on long enough.
Our patience has worn thin now that the original intent and purpose of income tax has long since passed, while the extent and breadth of income tax regulations and demands continue to expand.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who can remember when our income tax return form was a simple two-sided sheet of paper, 8.5 inches by 11 inches in size. There was a separate page with all the applicable tax tables for various income levels. The deductions and calculations could easily be done by even elementary school students.
Boy, how that has changed. The income tax reporting package for ordinary Canadian taxpayers is now comprised of two separate booklets with a total of 80 pages. For anyone lacking considerable reading perception skills, filling out income tax forms has become a Herculean task.
Many people have simply given up any attempt to do their own income tax and have turned the job over to income tax specialists and professional tax accountants.
It seems that the imposition and collection of income tax has become one of Canada’s largest industries.
Indeed, the income tax industry has become almost more important than the revenue it generates.
Finally, much like many of you who will file their income tax returns late, this is being published after tax return deadlines.
The way I see it, I don’t owe the government anything, so why make it easy and file everything according to their timetable.
– Sandy Macdougall is a retired journalist and former city councillor.
