Discounts on goods purchased by employees at Canadian companies are about to be taxed. And then, they’re not, all depending on who you listen to. The newest developments out of Parliament Hill seem to indicate it was all just a misunderstanding between the Canada Revenue Agency and the ministry responsible for it.
But when the dust settled, only days after the story broke about closing the benefit, Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier emphatically denied that any such measure was being imposed on employees.
John Brassard doesn’t buy it.
“(The Liberals) are now ‘reviewing’ it which is code for waiting until the storm this has created has died down,” the deputy opposition whip tells BarrieToday. “In my opinion the Trudeau Liberals have every intention of taxing employee discounts and anything else they can get their hands on.”
Brassard, who represents the Barrie-Innisfil riding on Parliament Hill, also says he doubts this is the kind of move that would discourage hard work among folks who are grateful enough to be employed.
“It does, however, discourage employers from offering discounted benefits and incentives to their employees because of the added administrative burden.”
Why would the government do it? Brassard says the logic behind the move is simple.
“(Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau has a spending problem, not a revenue problem and he is looking to confiscate as much out of hard-working Canadians as he can to pay for his pet global projects. He talks a good game about helping the middle-class and taxing the rich but the facts don’t back it up.
“Middle-class Canadians are paying almost $900 more in taxes a year since the 2015 election and the treasury collected over $1 billion less last year in tax revenue from the ‘top 1 per cent’. The small business tax grab is another glaring example of the hypocrisy of the Liberals.”
What’s more, the first-term Tory MP says, reports of employment and the economy growing like weeds don’t represent the full story.
“Wages are not increasing and most jobs being created are part-time. Much of the increase in full-time employment is government hiring. Household debt continues to rise and has a stranglehold on most Canadians. In fact, a recent study showed more than half of Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque."
Brassard concludes, “Add to this the plan to increase taxes on businesses as has been proposed and you can cause significant problems for our economy.”
