Tax Problem

The French government had planned to change how
fiscality works in France, and tax revenue at the source,
the way it is done here in Canada and many other countries
starting January 1. This might well seem frightening to many.
And since the SMIC - minimum wage at which someone can be
hired calculated on a 35 hour week - becomes the floor at no tax,
the argument for a more generous SMIC becomes pressing.

The twist on it, the government is introducing - at the same time -
the carbon tax by raising the price of fuel by 6.5%. WHAT!?
Everyone knows this tax is meant to help phase out the automobile
by making it too expensive. It's supply and demand theory at the service
of Climate Change. But it would be economic aggression on the
less well-off to just introduce that with no cushion.

Here in Canada, Ontario has refused to administer this tax. The
federal government will impose it on distributors, and taxpayers at lower
rates will be getting checks in the mail. Why go through all this? Because
this kind of tax is meant to change the price of one transportation mode
with respect to another. The day care worker gets to keep her car because
she moves boxes around a lot. The retired supply teacher might decide to
take public transit and walk more. No one is going hungry on this.
And for government, it is a problem in tax design…

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