SHOULD GHOSTS...

SHOULD GHOSTS BE TAXED?
A parody on Canada’s ongoing policy of
Taxing Phantom Income.

By Victor Drummond ©
February 2009

When it comes to famous manifestations of purely ethereal beings Canada is far behind countries such as Germany, (Transylvania), France and Great Britain where ghostly presences have been witnessed by people on hundreds of occasions.

Old Castles appear to be their preferred habitats. Especially those where gruesome events have taken place in times past. These Castles are real property even if the ghostly occupants are not.

This situation is grossly unfair to ordinary citizens, who in addition to being frightened out their skins, by these chain rattling spooks, are also taxed by the government on the property they occupy and the assets they acquire.

These ghostly apparitions not only possessed the properties they currently occupy but those that existed in real life were mostly Barons, Kings, Dukes and the like with huge personal fortunes.

Of course in real life these phantoms also undoubtedly obeyed the tax laws that were in effect at the time and/or made tax laws to suit themselves. Much like the Canadian government does today.

Canadians who are honest, hard working taxpayers and who are taxed on their real income, the same as their counterpart Canadians have little or nothing to complain about.

Likewise Canadians who invest, and/or, speculate in the stock markets of the world, and who are taxed on the profits they actually realize also have little to complain about.

How about a corporate employee who is offered the opportunity to acquire shares in their employer corporation, either at an attractive cost price, or even in lieu of other benefits such as an increase in pay, or additional paid vacation time?

During the decades long hi-tech market boom, ending in the year 2001, many corporations implemented “Employee Share Purchase Plans”, (ESPP’s) and/or Employee Share Option Plans, (ESO’s) to entice employees to remain loyal to the employer and produce higher output in order to share in the corporations success.

These honest, hard working taxpayers were lulled into a sense of false security, both by their employer and the very government they may have voted for.

It was seldom or sometimes never made clear to those employees that they could, and would, be taxed on money that never existed. Money that was no more tangible than the apparitions haunting the castles of the old world.

Taxes, which regardless of whether or not the taxpayer lost their employment, their life savings, their children’s education fund, their homes and sometimes even a spouse, were imposed without compassion.

To make matters worse the victims of this outrageous tax could not apply real losses they suffered if they actually liquidated their equities. The tax imposed on phantom income may only be paid up front or, in some cases, deferred until the taxpayer themselves become a ghost.

Canada’s tax barons have made the law discriminatory between phantom taxable benefits and real tangible losses such that one is not allowed to offset the other.

Quite the self-serving set of legal rationalizations. A tax system that Lucifer himself would be proud of.

Taxing imaginary income is about as fair, and reasonable, as posting a tax levy on a haunted castle demanding payment of property taxes by the ethereal occupant.
At least the castle and the phantom’s past possessions are real, even if the ethereal occupant is not.

The U.S. government has recently amended their comparable tax, on phantom income, legislation and it is no credit to our Canadian government that they haven’t yet followed the American lead in this aspect.
Ref:- www.fair-iso.org and www.reformAMT.org for more detail.

SHOULD GHOSTS BE TAXED? Answer:- Not until they materialize with real assets.

Consequently neither should living Canadians be taxed until the related phantom income also materializes. Ref:- www.cfet.ca and follow the “Sign our Petition” link to Signatures – Comments, for more detail.

When looking for a Canadian Federal Political Party to support, in the next election, you won’t find one worthy of your vote, and your $!.25 per vote tax contribution, until you find a party prepared to correct Canada’s Tax on Ghostly income.

Victor Drummond ©