Tax Shelters For The Rich

The financial columns of various news outlets are all abuzz this week at the release of thousands and thousands of files containing information from a Panama-based law firm. Those files indicate that numerous  fraudulent shell corporations were set up to provide tax shelters for people with lots of money. I think I am always a little bit disappointed in myself when I realize that I am still surprised every time I hear such stories. It is not that I am surprised that people hide money - lots of Canadians bend the rules to avoid paying tax.   I am not even shocked at the amount of money that has been hidden away. What  astonishes me is not that just that rich people lie about it,  but that they act as if not paying income tax is no big deal.

In the past three or four years I have written a number of times about the fact that Canadians from all walks of life complain about the lack of services, complain about amount of taxes they pay and then do everything they can to avoid paying their share of income tax. It continues to frustrate me almost above anything else that people do not  seem to be able to make a connection between everyone paying  their fair share and there being enough money to provide  an adequate level of services. When I rant about this to my peers, the most common response is that the real problem is that big corporations and the very rich do not pay their fair share. And my peers are at least partially right.

On a regular basis there are news stories of another tax fraud scheme being found.  Rich Canadians are not unique in wanting to hide their money from the national taxman; every country has the same problem.  What is perhaps remarkable is that the Canadian government seems to be unwilling to do anything to correct the problem. If you are really rich it would appear the chances of being charged are rather minimal. If the cases that were reported in the Financial Post or are posted online on CRA's website are any example - the people who are pursued are the relative small fish, not those who are, and having been hiding millions of dollars for years. My suspicions as to the biasness of CRA is confirmed in a MacLean's article from 2014. The article in part says that Canadian government does not, unlike some other western countries, invest in enough resources to find the major violators.

As well the minimal consequences that may be imposed if caught are well worth the gamble. For example, of the 128 people that were convicted of tax evasion in Canada in 2013, only 29 went to jail - for an average of 22 months (CBC) (they also were fined and had to pay back money owed). People who voluntarily admit to tax evasion just have to pay the money they owe plus interest. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me considering that CRA only pursues a small percentage of violators. It is even a better deal when government's investigators appear to allow the companies who set up some of the fraudulent tax avoidance schemes to negotiate good deals for their clients (CBC). I am not convinced that CFS's policy of shaming the convicted by posting their names is a particularly  effective method of punishment. I suspect that it only perpetuates the guilty's mythology of having done nothing wrong and of having been unfairly treated by the Canadian government. 

There is no debate among those of us who pay taxes that everyone else should pay as well. For those  who don't pay income tax because their incomes are too low or don't because their incomes are so high that they can hire people to help them avoid paying, the responses seem to be less clear. At one end of the spectrum it is argued that the lack of services etc. is someone elses fault - that those who are rich, should pay more. At the other end, the argument appears to be that they already pay enough and that it is not their responsibility to take care of everyone. Both responses seem wrong or at least incomplete to me.

We all need to give what we can so that everyone can get what they need. Those who chose not to - should get punished so that they and others who aspire to be like them learn there are responsibilities that cannot be avoided.

Does Winter Make You SAD or Does Science Know What It Is Talking About?

Some days - perhaps even most days, it is hard to know who to believe. In fact, it frequently feels as if even our major news media don't know who or what to believe. Take for example the CBC and its reporting on seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

In February of last years the CBC reported on the benefits of using special lighting to counter the effects of our long winters and reduced sunlight. CBC told readers that as many as 1.2 million Canadians (more likely women than men) were clinically depressed in the winter, with "another 10 to 15 per cent of Canadians  suffering from a milder form of SAD" (CBC). That does not include the large numbers of Canadians who on occasion express some sadness or tiredness with the apparent never-ending winter. The main point of the article was to discussed the effectiveness of using a high-intensity ultraviolet-filtered bright-light for a period of time every day. The article also, using the work of Dr. Robert Levitan suggests that SADs may be a genetic holdover from our cave dwelling ancestors who would have had to reserve energy during the long dark months. Regardless of why the lack of light affects us - it is good to know that the medical community both recognize the existence of SADS and that there is a non-invasive "cure".

For all of us who have suffered through the long winter months (on either coast or anywhere in the middle) - we can easily recognize that feeling of just not wanting to get up on another dark and cold winter morning, on those days  or perhaps weeks  on end when we barely have the energy to function.

On the other hand,  just today CBC reported that an article in the  Journal of Clinical Psychological Science is suggesting that there is no evidence to support the theory that our long and dark winters are making people depressed. It should be noted that the researcher, Steven G. LoBello is from Montgomery, Alabama  and may have never really experienced a long cold winter. He may therefore, not know what he is talking about.  He does however cite a  research project done in Norway that " did not find any relationship between an increase in depression and the duration of the polar light" (CBC). The article is not suggesting that people are not more likely to get depressed in the winter - just that there is no scientific proof that it is the lack of light that causes it.

I am not a scientist. Neither do I have access to the kinds of data needed to examine which of these polar opposite hypothesis are true. But what I do know is....Thank God it is spring!!!"

It had been interesting and quite marvellous to be on the west coast during spring time. Spring time here is completely different from that in Ontario. There is not, for example, that sense of collective celebration of having survived another winter. There is no spontaneous shedding of heavy winter coats and boots (in part because half of the people here don't own heavy winter coats). There is no slow build up of excitement, no mental measurement of how much the snow bank has melted in the past 24 hours and no real sense that life will finally get better- which after all is what spring is really about. Perhaps most important of all....I don't think anyone here actually believes that they have earned better weather. It may be our natural right to get it - but unlike in central Canada, we didn't earn it.

On the west coast, spring has been a gradually meandering process  where spring has happened without any real realization that it has. Trees have been in bloom for at least the last three weeks, flowers are blooming (some of the tulips are almost finished) and most people have cut their lawns at least once if not twice. Vegetable gardens are being planted and there is a sense that we are all slipping into summer mode. It is a nice feeling but I must confess - I miss, just a little bit, that sense of celebration and excitement at the coming of spring.

Although the trees sure have been pretty.