[opendoor]

Originally Posted by morgin

You know, I'm hearing this tossed around as a talking point for this "movement", but I really wonder how true this actually is. I'm not an accountant or tax lawyer, but my understanding is that in Canada, these so called loopholes don't really exist to the same extent.

There are many loopholes that exist in Canada as well, but to their credit, the Harper government has taken action to close some of the ones I mentioned.

The other question is what sort of chilling effect it would have on industry to basically impose additional taxes (closing means of reducing tax exposure is effectivly increasing taxes for those businesses). I get the sense people think companies exist in a vaccum. We live in a global economy these days. If it becomes too expensive to operate in Canada, what's stopping companies from moving where they can find cheaper labour and lower operating costs? Obviously this is already happening, but it's not like you can magically start charging more taxes and then require companies to stay put. We are being underbid by emerging economies and low skilled work that pays well is really a thing of the past. Adapt, or starve.

For one, a lot of the biggest offenders are in industries that can't really be outsourced (resource extraction, domestic retail, etc.). But I agree, obviously the government needs to close loopholes intelligently and respect how it affects businesses' tax liability, but there is tons of room for improvement. Even if they don't raise overall revenues by doing this, a more honest tax system (rather than one that favors certain size companies or certain industries that lobby heavily, for instance) creates a more even playing field for all businesses.

Also, many of the loopholes are for individuals. So it's not a matter of increasing corporate taxes, but rather ensuring that many upper income earners are paying their fair share.