A quick rant on income tax rates

Thanks to Colin Craig at the Taxpayers Federation for tweeting this link to an Ernst & Young provincial tax calculator.
 

After playing around with numbers, I couldn't help but write a post about the importance of the tax system and tax rates in helping low income earners and the working poor.

The results really hit me when entering a yearly income of  $25000, $20,000 and $15,000.

At $25,000 a Manitoba worker pays $3,965 a year the highest rate in the country. Compare this to $2973 in Ontario, a staggering difference of $992.

At $20,000 a Manitoba worker pays $2675 again the highest rate in the country. This is $1117 than the country's lowest rate in British Columbia.

At $15,000 a Manitoba worker pays $1385 a year, once again the highest rate in the country! Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador are the lowest at 671$.

In a interesting foot note E&Y point out that these calculation do not include personal tax credits individuals may qualify for.  A lot of people might point to the generous tax credits offered here in Manitoba but the reality is that having a little bit more at the end of every paycheck goes a lot farther in having a healthy, balanced lifestyle than getting a bigger refund cheque every spring.

The government likes to make itself look good by offering a lot of these refunds but ultimately it is just taking with one hand and giving back with the other. Allowing people to keep their extra income empowers them to make the right decisions more than any tax credit scheme does.

Also it is impossible to discuss the raising of the minimum wage as an effective policy tool without at the same time discussing the tax rate on lower income earners! Raising the minimum wage without addressing this issue of high taxes on the lowest income earners in society is only a band aid solution to a larger problem.

Why I believe in Vision, Change and Progress

After a summer away from blogging and some thought I’ve decided to start blogging again. The election is just too tempting to stay away.

Over the summer some great election resources have been set up. I really like the Manitoba Election 2011 site and recommend it to everyone: http://manitobaelection.ca/ . They are a great aggregator of stories, candidates and information regarding the vote!

Over a number of post I’ll outline why I believe Manitobans should elect a Progressive Conservative government lead by Hugh McFadyen on October 4^th.  This post will mostly outline my ideology and why I see it fits with the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba. Over the course of the campaign I’ll also have other post just commenting on the election in general, the races, ridings to watch and polls.

At a base, I believe in a limited government that builds societal frameworks that maximize individual freedoms and opportunity between its citizens. I believe that the government’s role is twofold: first to create frameworks for the free and fair interaction between citizens and second to offer social services that create equal opportunity. 

I see this in opposition to a government that manages, limits and-or directs interactions between citizens. In this sense I think a government should ensures free and fair markets and provide basic services to ensure equal opportunity. I believe before embarking in any sphere of activity a government has the responsibility to ask itself "is this an appropriate sphere for the government to be involved in or is there a more legitimate actor to fulfill this activity?"and only once that question is answered in the affirmative should it proceed. 

In addition I truly believe in sustainable development. I believe in sustainable development in a very broad sense of the term. I do not link it only to environmental policies.  At base I see sustainable development as:

`Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ (Brundtland Report)

This means a more sustainable future in every sense of the word: financial and economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, social services. This means controlling our debt, strengthening long term private sector growth, and ensuring quality infrastructure and social services.

This means we can’t finance government programs through long term deficit financing; that ultimately unchecked and irresponsible debt incurred today limits our future opportunities (as we see in the United States and Greece). 

Over the course of the campaign I’ll outline more specifically why I believe the Progressive Conservative Party and Hugh McFadyen share this vision and how I believe their plan would benefit Manitobans.

(p.s. I’m hoping to blog as much as possible but I’m finding that time constraints makes it difficult to commit enough time to producing good content so I may not be able to update as much as I’d like to. )