I usually content myself with a headshake after reading Tom Fletcher’s columns, but the column of Wednesday, February 25, titled, “Why cut taxes for the rich?” is too much. Figures lie and liars figure, and one can twist numbers to suit any end, which is what Mr. Fletcher has done.
Let me use his numbers in a slightly different way.
Fletcher says, “By 2013, the bottom 40 per cent of Canadian households were paying just 6.8 per cent of income tax and more than a third of tax filers were paying none at all.”
In other words, one third of Canadian families didn’t make $22,000, which is the basic exemption for two people (or they had deductions that reduced their tax to zero), and seven per cent (40 to 33 per cent) were paying 6.8 per cent of all taxes. Seems fair.
But let’s look at what’s left over after taxes.
The richest one per cent of Canadians made an average of $443,500 and paid income tax of $146,600, leaving them with $297,000 to spend.
The other 99 per cent made an average of $37,900, and paid income tax of $5,600, leaving them with $32,300 to spend. $297,000 versus $32,300.
Why tax the rich?
Because they can afford it.
Ian Cameron, Brentwood Bay