Wednesday, March 17, 2010
DISASTERS NATURAL AND..
DISASTERS – NATURAL AND MAN MADE
In one regard Canadians are fortunate because natural disasters such as major earthquakes, major floods, and major tsunami wave destruction of our coastal cities and settlements seldom happens.
On the other hand losing your home, depleting your lifetime savings and living in
financial despair happen far too often in Canada and most of the time these local disasters are the result of the attitude held by our elected government authorities who are far more interested in demonstrating their concern for distressed citizens of foreign countries than correcting the distress they are creating and tolerating
abusing their own citizens right here in Canada.
Victor Drummond ©
March 17 2010
An honest, hard-working Canadian taxpayer – using the nom-de-plume “Billy” -- posted a very sincere series of comments to my previous blog titled: “Canada’s 2010 Budget – Deal or No Deal.”
Everyone should read Billy’s comments and decide for themselves if he is a victim of his own financial mismanagement -- as claimed by our tax authorities -- or the victim of an obscure tax trap in Canada’s defective taxable benefit legislation. Then visit www.reformamt.org and read the victims statements at the bottom of the web page.
Canada’s Prime Minister and Minister of Finance either stonewall all appeals for the “Fair Taxation for All Canadians” “Action Plan” promised in the federal Conservative Party 2006 pre-election brochure: “STAND UP FOR CANADA” or attempt to convince Canadians that promise has already been fulfilled.
These individuals, who were elected to serve the best interests of all Canadians, and who have publicized a “Canadian Taxpayers Bill of Rights” which they totally ignore, then tell Canadians that taxing employees -- who PURCHASED their employer corporation shares via an Employee Share Purchase Plan (ESPP) and/or an Employee Share Option (ESO) – on deemed “Earned Income” that was neither “Earned” nor “Income of any kind” is justified and fair.
Even before “Billy” provided the outrageous details of the tax treatment he received – after spending his last few dollars on a tax specialist lawyer – I was already aware of several similar man made disasters caused by Canada’s man made tax-grab legislation.
How can anyone approve a Tax Remission Order (TRO) -- such as the Gary Lunn TRO that provided real relief of the unjustified taxes levied on them on the basis of phantom income (money that never existed) -- which is a truly fair tax action -- and then deny thousands of other Canadian victims of the same tax trap the same level of fair tax treatment AND then with a straight face tell other Canadians the income tax treatment is “fair” for all Canadians?
It takes someone who has done a lot more than “Kiss the Blarney Stone” to give that level of performance. In my opinion our Minster of Finance has bitten off and swallowed a large chunk of that stone.
A tax system that favours a few taxpayers with full compensation of unjust taxation and denies the same consideration to thousands of similar victims can not even begin to be called “fair”.
Some defenders -- of the favouritism given the SDL Optics victims – attempt to justify their preferential tax treatment on the basis the victims were under greater stress than all other similar victims plus the SDL victims also lost their employment. There is nothing unique about them losing their employment. So did thousands of Nortel victimized employees and so did thousands of JDS Uniphase victimized employees.
Any excuse offered, by anyone, in an attempt to justify a different tax treatment for the Gary Lunn TRO victims -- as compared to all other Canadian victims taxed on phantom income -- is nothing but pure BS.
There is no excuse for denying any Canadians the same treatment given the Gary Lunn TRO victims and to treat any part of the Canadian taxpayer population victimized in the same way any differently than the treatment provided for the group that were protected by the Gary Lunn TRO – is a blatant violation of the updated Taxpayers Bill of Rights – which no one is enforcing.
Mr. Flaherty – throw away the English Language Dictionary you have been using – it obviously does not have the correct definition for the word “Fair”.
Billy is a typical victim of Canada’s defective taxable benefit legislation and our defective government authorities who are willing to allow our citizens to be financially devastated by our man made disastrous tax laws while committing billions of Canadian taxpayer dollars to help rebuild the homes of people who have been afflicted by natural disasters but who have never contributed one cent to Canada’s tax system.
Remember the golden rule: “Charity begins at home.”
See you at the voting polls for the coming federal election O’grady.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.
Victor Drummond ©
Sunday, March 14, 2010
CANADA'S 2010 BUDGET..
CANADA’S 2010 BUDGET – DEAL OR NO DEAL
Couched in the usual assurances of providing Canadians with a
“Fair” and “Equitable” Income tax deal Canada’s “Banker”
Our Minister of Finance
is offering a short range of Tax Deals to Canada’s victims of
outrageous, unjustified taxes levied on purely phantom income.
A commentary by Victor Drummond ©
March 2010
Canada has a variety of taxpayers who have been levied outrageous, unjustified taxes on a pie-in-the-sky deemed “Earned Income” that was neither “Earned Income” nor “Real Income” of any kind.
The federal conservative party was elected in 2006 to form Canada’s government based --- at least in part – on the declared “Action Plan” to provide all Canadians with a “Fair and Equitable Income Tax system.”
Contestents No 1 to play Canada’s version of “Deal or No Deal?”
Shortly after forming Canada’s 39th Parliament the first Contestants to play Canada’s version of “Deal or No Deal” was a group of former employees of the now defunct SDL Optics Inc./JDS Uniphase Plant located in the riding of Conservative MP The Hon Gary Lunn – Saanich Gulf Islands British Columbia.
There are 37 tax victims in this group with taxes levied on phantom income for the years 1999 and 2000. Our Howie Mandel, (Harper), declared these taxes were unfair and unjustified by signing the Tax Remission Order (TRO) requested by the Hon. Gary Lunn and prepared at the request of the Hon. Carol Skelton, CP, MP.
By the time the TRO was signed into law by Canada’s governor general, Her Excellency Michele Jean the Hon Carol Skelton had been replaced by the Hon, Gordon O’Connor, as the Minister to provide the finished TRO format.
The banker offered the first players of Canada’s "Deal or No Deal" a full cancellation of the taxes and related penalties plus a rebate of the taxes, on phantom income, that had already been paid.
Contestents No 1 accepted the deal – which was indeed fair – and they went laughing all the way to the bank.
====================================
Shortly after the First Deal was implemented mandarins in the Bankers organization issued a warning to our Howie Mandel that giving Canadians a deal at this level of “Fairness” was setting a dangerous precedent. Consequently our Howie did an about face and declined to even mention the issue of taxation on phantom income – let alone take any further action to fulfill his commitment to “resolve” the issue for all Canadians by making the required changes to the tax code. The only code he changed was his code of ethics.
Although there were thousands of other Canadian Taxpayers -- caught in the same tax trap as those given a fair deal via the Gary Lunn TRO – all their appeals for the same deal were denied on the grounds they didn’t qualify.
This unfair state of affairs was maintained until March 4th 2010 when Canada’s Banker presented a new round of “Deal or No Deal” rules for Canadian victims to play by.
=======================================
Contestants No 2 now get an offer from the Banker.
To qualify as a contestant in the second round of Canada’s new tax game “Deal or no Deal” a victimized taxpayer must have been levied taxes on phantom income AND must have applied to have those taxes deferred as provided per form T1212.
The bankers offer to these contestants appears to be the conversion of taxes due to the level of the sale value of the ESPP/ESO equities the victim still holds. There will be no rebate given but any real loss the victim may experience between the cost paid for the equities and the money received at the time of sale may be carried forward, indefinitely, in the hopes there will be a capital gain someday to which this loss may be applied.
Does this offer by the banker compare -- in any way -- with the deal given the first set of contestants?
If you were a contestant in group no 2 would you accept this deal?
=========================================
What about victimized Canadian Taxpayers who paid the taxes levied on the phantom income of their ESPP/ESO equities up front and did not apply for a tax deferment?
Will they get an offer from the banker? Apparently not. They are not eligible to play this version of Canada’s "Deal or No Deal" tax game.
=========================================
How does Canada’s tax treatment of Canadian taxpayers caught in the tax trap that produces huge tax levies on phantom income compare with the U. S. A. government treatment of their taxpayers who were also levied horrendous taxes on phantom income?
The U.S. victimized taxpayers were given a full reprieve of taxed levied on phantom income plus given credit for taxes already paid on phantom income.
Ref: www.reformamt.org
The only group of Canadians to receive anything like this level of fair tax treatment are the SDL Optics employees who were covered by the Gary Lunn TRO.
We have been told – over and over again by our banker -- that Canada’s economy is in much better shape than the economy of the U.S.A. and yet the U.S.A. government places the fairness of their tax system high enough to take the economic hit of treating their victimized taxpayers truly fair.
Canada’s Banker on the other hand pays repeated lip service to Canada’s Fair system of income taxation while avoiding being fair whenever possible.
=====================================
Canadians should let our banker know in very definite terms – provide the fair and equitable tax system you promised – or “NO DEAL”
When the next federal election arrives be sure to have your curriculum vitae updated as no one needs or wants someone they can neither trust, nor believe a thing he says, minding our bank.
See you at the voting polls in the next federal election O’Grady.
Victor Drummond ©
Couched in the usual assurances of providing Canadians with a
“Fair” and “Equitable” Income tax deal Canada’s “Banker”
Our Minister of Finance
is offering a short range of Tax Deals to Canada’s victims of
outrageous, unjustified taxes levied on purely phantom income.
A commentary by Victor Drummond ©
March 2010
Canada has a variety of taxpayers who have been levied outrageous, unjustified taxes on a pie-in-the-sky deemed “Earned Income” that was neither “Earned Income” nor “Real Income” of any kind.
The federal conservative party was elected in 2006 to form Canada’s government based --- at least in part – on the declared “Action Plan” to provide all Canadians with a “Fair and Equitable Income Tax system.”
Contestents No 1 to play Canada’s version of “Deal or No Deal?”
Shortly after forming Canada’s 39th Parliament the first Contestants to play Canada’s version of “Deal or No Deal” was a group of former employees of the now defunct SDL Optics Inc./JDS Uniphase Plant located in the riding of Conservative MP The Hon Gary Lunn – Saanich Gulf Islands British Columbia.
There are 37 tax victims in this group with taxes levied on phantom income for the years 1999 and 2000. Our Howie Mandel, (Harper), declared these taxes were unfair and unjustified by signing the Tax Remission Order (TRO) requested by the Hon. Gary Lunn and prepared at the request of the Hon. Carol Skelton, CP, MP.
By the time the TRO was signed into law by Canada’s governor general, Her Excellency Michele Jean the Hon Carol Skelton had been replaced by the Hon, Gordon O’Connor, as the Minister to provide the finished TRO format.
The banker offered the first players of Canada’s "Deal or No Deal" a full cancellation of the taxes and related penalties plus a rebate of the taxes, on phantom income, that had already been paid.
Contestents No 1 accepted the deal – which was indeed fair – and they went laughing all the way to the bank.
====================================
Shortly after the First Deal was implemented mandarins in the Bankers organization issued a warning to our Howie Mandel that giving Canadians a deal at this level of “Fairness” was setting a dangerous precedent. Consequently our Howie did an about face and declined to even mention the issue of taxation on phantom income – let alone take any further action to fulfill his commitment to “resolve” the issue for all Canadians by making the required changes to the tax code. The only code he changed was his code of ethics.
Although there were thousands of other Canadian Taxpayers -- caught in the same tax trap as those given a fair deal via the Gary Lunn TRO – all their appeals for the same deal were denied on the grounds they didn’t qualify.
This unfair state of affairs was maintained until March 4th 2010 when Canada’s Banker presented a new round of “Deal or No Deal” rules for Canadian victims to play by.
=======================================
Contestants No 2 now get an offer from the Banker.
To qualify as a contestant in the second round of Canada’s new tax game “Deal or no Deal” a victimized taxpayer must have been levied taxes on phantom income AND must have applied to have those taxes deferred as provided per form T1212.
The bankers offer to these contestants appears to be the conversion of taxes due to the level of the sale value of the ESPP/ESO equities the victim still holds. There will be no rebate given but any real loss the victim may experience between the cost paid for the equities and the money received at the time of sale may be carried forward, indefinitely, in the hopes there will be a capital gain someday to which this loss may be applied.
Does this offer by the banker compare -- in any way -- with the deal given the first set of contestants?
If you were a contestant in group no 2 would you accept this deal?
=========================================
What about victimized Canadian Taxpayers who paid the taxes levied on the phantom income of their ESPP/ESO equities up front and did not apply for a tax deferment?
Will they get an offer from the banker? Apparently not. They are not eligible to play this version of Canada’s "Deal or No Deal" tax game.
=========================================
How does Canada’s tax treatment of Canadian taxpayers caught in the tax trap that produces huge tax levies on phantom income compare with the U. S. A. government treatment of their taxpayers who were also levied horrendous taxes on phantom income?
The U.S. victimized taxpayers were given a full reprieve of taxed levied on phantom income plus given credit for taxes already paid on phantom income.
Ref: www.reformamt.org
The only group of Canadians to receive anything like this level of fair tax treatment are the SDL Optics employees who were covered by the Gary Lunn TRO.
We have been told – over and over again by our banker -- that Canada’s economy is in much better shape than the economy of the U.S.A. and yet the U.S.A. government places the fairness of their tax system high enough to take the economic hit of treating their victimized taxpayers truly fair.
Canada’s Banker on the other hand pays repeated lip service to Canada’s Fair system of income taxation while avoiding being fair whenever possible.
=====================================
Canadians should let our banker know in very definite terms – provide the fair and equitable tax system you promised – or “NO DEAL”
When the next federal election arrives be sure to have your curriculum vitae updated as no one needs or wants someone they can neither trust, nor believe a thing he says, minding our bank.
See you at the voting polls in the next federal election O’Grady.
Victor Drummond ©
Thursday, February 25, 2010
HOW TO SUCK AND BLOW..
HOW TO SUCK AND BLOW CONCURRENTLY
A physically impossible feat easily accomplished by the Canada Revenue Agency.
Because the CRA is not bound by logic, decency, or man-made laws,and/or natural laws of physics.
A commentary by Victor Drummond ©
February 2010
Here is how the Canada Revenue Agency works their magic.
First they create a tax rationale that obliges one specific item to have two physical forms completely independent of each other. For example a share in an employer’s corporation can be both a taxable benefit and a Capital investment at the same time. Although there is only one physical item the two deemed forms are treated completely independent of each other.
Taxes are then levied on any theoretical gain the holder might have received if he, or she, disposed of their holdings while in the deemed taxable benefit physical form and these taxes are then said to be immune to any loss suffered by the holder due to their holdings not producing the imaginary gain already taxed on these holdings even when in fact they actually produced a loss.
A clear case of sucking the financial life out of a taxpayers pocket while simultaneously blowing off any appeal the victim may submit for fair tax treatment.
About the only human that considers this outrageous tax policy to be justified is Canada’s Minister of Finance the Hon. James M. Flaherty CP, MP. Not only does Mr. Flaherty consider this tax policy to be justified he even goes so far as to say it is actually “fair” because after the tax victim has been taxed, on money never seen, he or she is then treated the same as all other Canadian investors/speculators.
That is the equivalent of saying a citizen mugged and robbed is being treated fairly because they now receive the same police protection as all other Canadian citizens.
This legalized robbery rationale is based upon is a specific sequence of events between a corporate employer and their employees who happen to participate in an Employee Shares Purchase Plan (ESPP) or an Employee Shares Option (ESO) agreement.
The CRA claims that in spite of the fact the employer’s equities are “purchased” by an employee because they are acquired through an employer incentive program they somehow become a taxable award or gift. This takes a bit of logic stretching because if you pay for something it is neither an award nor a gift.
To illustrate just how idiotic this rationale is consider an identical situation using an item every household shopper is familiar with, i.e. iceberg lettuce will be our equity.
Following a truth in fiction.
Mr William Smith is an employee of the Evergreen Farms Produce Corporation (EFPC). He holds the position of the EFPC warehouse manager in Trenton Ontario and he has full operating authority to order farm produce from his employer corporation or any other farm produce marketer that he chooses. For purpose of this illustration he receives all profit and loss transactions as personal income.
Williams’s boss, Walter Windbag is located in the Canadian Headquarters of EFPC in Toronto Ontario and he periodically sends William contract offers to supply iceberg lettuce in fixed quantities of 1000 heads at six month intervals over the future 24 months at a premium cost compared to the Wholesale Fair Market Value, (WFMV).
William signs on to this Iceberg Lettuce Purchase Plan (ILPP) because he predicts he will want at least that many units and possibly more.
William also receives flyers from other wholesale vegetable market producers and decides he will back up his ILPP contract by placing an identical order with an outside supplier. William signs a second iceberg lettuce contract with the Farm Produce Broker (FPB) for the same delivery schedule at the same premium to the original WFMV as his EFPC/ILPP contract.
William pays both suppliers the full cost of these ILPP contracts at the agreed WFMV.
Six months later two tractor trailer trucks arrive at Williams EFPC warehouse each delivering 1000 heads of iceberg lettuce. By good fortune the WFMV, by that date, has skyrocketed and is now ten times the cost William paid for his ILPP lettuce heads.
Although William hasn’t sold one head of lettuce, to anyone, his employer reports to the CRA that William has received “Earned Income” ten times higher than the price he was charged by his employer EFPC and William is now deemed to have received an “earned income” inflated by a nonexistent “taxable benefit”.
By comparison the 1000 heads of iceberg lettuce William received – on the same date – from
his FPB supplier does not generate a tax action of any kind, at that time, even though the monetary events are identical.
Unfortunately the supply of iceberg lettuce soon exceeded the demand and the WFMV crashed. William took a huge loss on both his ILPP contracts, i.e. with his employer and his FPB outside supplier.
The CRA refused to allow William to offset the taxes levied on his nonexistent “earned income”
with the real losses he suffered which the CRA deems is a “capital loss”. They insist the loss is not related to the taxes levied on those same heads of lettuce at the time of delivery, i.e. “exercise date”.
This analogy should make it clear to everyone that basing a tax, of any kind, levied on a purely imaginary gain at the moment of exercise is totally outrageous, unjustified and grossly unfair.
There need be no distinction made between a person purchasing their employer’s corporation shares by way of an Employee Share Purchase Plan (ESPP), or an Employee Share Option (ESO) agreement and the same employee buying those same shares from their broker. A purchase is a purchase.
A purchase is not a gift or an award regardless of any premium the employee may receive at the time of purchase.
If an employee happens to pay a bit less, than the Fair Market Value for the employer corporation shares, at the time of purchase then it merely improves the prospect the investor employee will receive a profit at the time of sale. This gives the CRA a better prospect of the employee having a gain to be taxed and the tax would be justified and fair.
It is time to put an end to the CRA violating the laws of reason and the laws of physics and put them on the same limitations as the rest of us.
No more concurrent sucking the financial life out of honest, hard-working Canadians while blowing off their appeals for justice.
See you at the voting polls for the next federal election O’Grady.
Victor Drummond ©
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
CANADS PART TIME DEMOCRACY
CANADA’S PART TIME DEMOCRACY
A commentary on Canada’s hybrid federal government
which is in fact a dictatorship that masquerades as a democracy.
By Victor Drummond ©
February 2010
What would you call the leader of a country where the people voted him into power on the basis of pre-election promises that were either never fulfilled or at worst a mere token action was taken to pretend to fulfill one or two of the more important ones?
After approving the Gary Lunn Tax Remission Order revoking the taxes, and related penalties, for a mere 37 victims of “phantom income” taxation he stonewalled thousands of other similar victims.
Answer: The Right Honourable Stephen Harper.
What would you call a country where the members of government are elected, by a free vote, and are intended to have a free voice to fulfill their responsibilities to their constituents, and to the entire population of the country, but are cowed into silence on issues the cabinet, (Prime Minister and Mandarins), place on the restricted issue list?
Answer: A Dictatorship
What would you call a Minister of Finance who publicly declares his government has introduced an “Action Plan” to provide fair Taxation to all Canadians and then does an about face to defend his policy of levying outrageous taxes on Canadians “deemed” to have received a taxable benefit that never in fact existed in tangible form, i.e. “phantom income”?
Answer: The Hon. James M. Flaherty.
What would you call a political leader who conveniently forgets important details that he finds reveal his incompetence, (or worse), and unilaterally shuts down the entire government for two months while he gads all over the globe trying to cash-in on every possible photo-op?
Answer: - A worthless glory hound.
What would you call a nation of voters who would knowingly vote for candidates with the above characteristics?
Answer: They come in two types:
(1) Those that have a vested interest in this kind of dictatorship. They milk the system.
and
(2) People who are as gullible as the unscrupulous candidates believe them to be.
Promise them anything and they will vote for you even though you deliver on none of the promises.
The time is long past for Canadian voters to demand performance from the candidates they vote for.
Before the next federal election contact the federal party candidates in your riding and ask for their commitment to correct Canada’s defective Income Tax legislation to put an end to taxing phantom income. Remind them the U.S. Government has already amended their equivalent defective legislation the puts an end to taxing U.S. citizens on “phantom” income and also includes a system of fair compensation for those who have already been victimized by the old law. Ref: www.reformamt.org
This is a good first step toward restoring Canada to a full time democracy.
See you at the voting polls fir the next Federal Election O’Grady
Victor Drummond ©
Sunday, February 7, 2010
THEY WHO PAY THE PIPER..
THEY WHO PAY THE PIPER CALL THE TUNES
Canadian Prime Ministers, especially from the days of Pierre Trudeau, have been controlling Canadians -- often to the national and/or personal disadvantage.
When it served their purpose they have denied Canadians their basic right to representation by forcing party MP’s to vote the “Party Line” disregarding the wishes of those who voted them into office.
A commentary by Victor Drummond ©
February 2010
The introduction of corporate Employee Share Purchase Plans (ESPP)’s) and Employee Share Option agreements (ESO’s) is a prime example of a situation where the original intent of a program was to benefit Canadian Corporations and their key employees – but was turned into a tax trap that penalized the very people it was supposed to benefit.
It is difficult to imagine the parliament that passed the original legislation -- empowering the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to tax equities acquired via an employer’s ESPP or ESO agreement as a taxable benefit at the moment of exercise of those equities -- ever intended honest, hard-working Canadians would be taxed, sometimes into poverty, on deemed income money that never actually existed, i.e. phantom income.
It took the crash in the shares of Hi-Tech corporations beginning in July 2000 to expose this obscure defect in the Canadian Income Tax Act dealing with ESPP/ESO acquired equities.
After fifteen years of Hi-Tech corporation shares enjoying boom time conditions suddenly thousands of unsuspecting Canadians were shocked to discover they were now being levied horrendous taxes on their ESPP/ESO Purchased equities that were essentially worthless by the time the taxes levied on them were revealed.
The Canadian Liberal government was immediately deluged with appeals for fair taxation when this travesty of justice was first revealed in 2001. The draft budget for 2001, prepared by the Hon. Paul Martin, appeared, at first, to be amending this flawed piece of legislation but by the time the final 2001 budget was read in parliament the only tax relief proposed was to introduce a tax deferral option in the way of a form T1212.
Even the introduction of the form T1212 tax deferral option was not clearly understood at first and many tax advisors, and victimized taxpayers believed they would only pay tax on the gain, (if any), that the employee actually realized at the time they sold their equities.
The government, however, wasn’t going to let loose of the millions of illicit tax dollars so easily extorted and the ruling came out that the victimized taxpayers would still be taxed on the temporary value their ESPP/ESO had at the moment of exercise regardless of the value actually received at the time those equities were sold.
Any real loss the tax victim may suffer -- at the time their ESPP/ESO equities are sold -- that loss is morphed from a taxable benefit to a Capital investment loss which the government will not allow the tax victim to use to offset the theoretical “benefit” that the victim might have received – but didn’t.
Of course if the victim was lucky enough to sell their equities at an additional gain over the deemed taxable benefit then that additional gain would also trigger a capital gains tax.
How about that for a “fair” system of taxation? A system where the government is guaranteed to win if the employee might have made a gain but the taxpayer is exposed to a potentially huge tax loss if they even might have made a gain – even when the gain was never realized. A win-win set up for the government and for the tax victim a potential financial disaster.
Although several MP’s in Canada’s 38th, 39th and 40th parliaments have written letters to Canadian government authorities -- ranging from the Prime Minister the way down to the back-bench MP’s – supporting their victimized constituents appeals for fair taxation those appeals have been ignored.
Even when the Right Honourable Stephen Harper acknowledged this tax system was unjust and unfair -- by signing the Gary Lunn Tax Remission Order” (TRO) thereby approving revoking of this outrageous tax for a mere 37 former employees of the SDL Optics/JDS Uniphase plant in the riding of Saanich Gulf-Islands British Columbia – all other victims of this legalized extortion have been denied this same tax treatment.
Somehow the current conservative government has succeeded in domineering our Members of Parliament -- who were democratically elected to represent the best interests of their constituents and the best interests of all Canadians – to the extent they remain silent on the abuse being heaped upon thousands of honest, hard-working Canadians.
Not only has the House of Commons been silenced on this outrageous issue but those fearless, outspoken watchdogs of the party in power – Her Majesty’s leaders of the Loyal Opposition Parties are equally cowed when it comes to declaring their position on this abuse of power.
Anyone who doubts the authenticity of my foregoing claims need only contact their riding MP’s (Conservative, Liberal, NDP, and/or Green Party) and ask them their party position on the phantom income tax issue. If you get a definitive answer let me know and be sure to vote for that candidate.
The thousands of requests for that information – issued by the group: “Canadians for Fair and Equitable Taxation” (CFET), have been ignored so far which is a violation of everyone’s right to know before they vote for anyone to represent their interests in Canada’s parliament.
Before you decide which candidate to vote for in the next federal election remember who is paying their above average salaries with above average perks and working conditions.
Make sure you are possibly going to get the service you are paying for before committing to vote for any candidate or any federal political party.
And one thing you must receive is a commitment to restore your right to equal treatment under Canada’s Tax Laws and that taxing Canadians on an income that never happened must be corrected.
Regardless of the claims made by our Hon. James Flaherty regarding the fairness of taxing phantom income – few, (if any), Canadians who have taken the time to really get the facts on this issue agree with him.
The U.S.A. congress doesn’t support Flaherty’s view as they have already amended their equivalent phantom income tax legislation and fairly compensated those U.S. taxpayers who had already been victimized by it. Ref: www.reformamt.org
As a Canadian taxpayer you are paying the salaries of every government employee – from the Prime Minister on down so do not hesitate to make your demands for service known to them.
Being one of those who are paying this band of politicians for service you have the right to name a few tunes.
See you at the voting polls for the next federal elction O’Grady.
Victor Drummond ©
Canadian Prime Ministers, especially from the days of Pierre Trudeau, have been controlling Canadians -- often to the national and/or personal disadvantage.
When it served their purpose they have denied Canadians their basic right to representation by forcing party MP’s to vote the “Party Line” disregarding the wishes of those who voted them into office.
A commentary by Victor Drummond ©
February 2010
The introduction of corporate Employee Share Purchase Plans (ESPP)’s) and Employee Share Option agreements (ESO’s) is a prime example of a situation where the original intent of a program was to benefit Canadian Corporations and their key employees – but was turned into a tax trap that penalized the very people it was supposed to benefit.
It is difficult to imagine the parliament that passed the original legislation -- empowering the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to tax equities acquired via an employer’s ESPP or ESO agreement as a taxable benefit at the moment of exercise of those equities -- ever intended honest, hard-working Canadians would be taxed, sometimes into poverty, on deemed income money that never actually existed, i.e. phantom income.
It took the crash in the shares of Hi-Tech corporations beginning in July 2000 to expose this obscure defect in the Canadian Income Tax Act dealing with ESPP/ESO acquired equities.
After fifteen years of Hi-Tech corporation shares enjoying boom time conditions suddenly thousands of unsuspecting Canadians were shocked to discover they were now being levied horrendous taxes on their ESPP/ESO Purchased equities that were essentially worthless by the time the taxes levied on them were revealed.
The Canadian Liberal government was immediately deluged with appeals for fair taxation when this travesty of justice was first revealed in 2001. The draft budget for 2001, prepared by the Hon. Paul Martin, appeared, at first, to be amending this flawed piece of legislation but by the time the final 2001 budget was read in parliament the only tax relief proposed was to introduce a tax deferral option in the way of a form T1212.
Even the introduction of the form T1212 tax deferral option was not clearly understood at first and many tax advisors, and victimized taxpayers believed they would only pay tax on the gain, (if any), that the employee actually realized at the time they sold their equities.
The government, however, wasn’t going to let loose of the millions of illicit tax dollars so easily extorted and the ruling came out that the victimized taxpayers would still be taxed on the temporary value their ESPP/ESO had at the moment of exercise regardless of the value actually received at the time those equities were sold.
Any real loss the tax victim may suffer -- at the time their ESPP/ESO equities are sold -- that loss is morphed from a taxable benefit to a Capital investment loss which the government will not allow the tax victim to use to offset the theoretical “benefit” that the victim might have received – but didn’t.
Of course if the victim was lucky enough to sell their equities at an additional gain over the deemed taxable benefit then that additional gain would also trigger a capital gains tax.
How about that for a “fair” system of taxation? A system where the government is guaranteed to win if the employee might have made a gain but the taxpayer is exposed to a potentially huge tax loss if they even might have made a gain – even when the gain was never realized. A win-win set up for the government and for the tax victim a potential financial disaster.
Although several MP’s in Canada’s 38th, 39th and 40th parliaments have written letters to Canadian government authorities -- ranging from the Prime Minister the way down to the back-bench MP’s – supporting their victimized constituents appeals for fair taxation those appeals have been ignored.
Even when the Right Honourable Stephen Harper acknowledged this tax system was unjust and unfair -- by signing the Gary Lunn Tax Remission Order” (TRO) thereby approving revoking of this outrageous tax for a mere 37 former employees of the SDL Optics/JDS Uniphase plant in the riding of Saanich Gulf-Islands British Columbia – all other victims of this legalized extortion have been denied this same tax treatment.
Somehow the current conservative government has succeeded in domineering our Members of Parliament -- who were democratically elected to represent the best interests of their constituents and the best interests of all Canadians – to the extent they remain silent on the abuse being heaped upon thousands of honest, hard-working Canadians.
Not only has the House of Commons been silenced on this outrageous issue but those fearless, outspoken watchdogs of the party in power – Her Majesty’s leaders of the Loyal Opposition Parties are equally cowed when it comes to declaring their position on this abuse of power.
Anyone who doubts the authenticity of my foregoing claims need only contact their riding MP’s (Conservative, Liberal, NDP, and/or Green Party) and ask them their party position on the phantom income tax issue. If you get a definitive answer let me know and be sure to vote for that candidate.
The thousands of requests for that information – issued by the group: “Canadians for Fair and Equitable Taxation” (CFET), have been ignored so far which is a violation of everyone’s right to know before they vote for anyone to represent their interests in Canada’s parliament.
Before you decide which candidate to vote for in the next federal election remember who is paying their above average salaries with above average perks and working conditions.
Make sure you are possibly going to get the service you are paying for before committing to vote for any candidate or any federal political party.
And one thing you must receive is a commitment to restore your right to equal treatment under Canada’s Tax Laws and that taxing Canadians on an income that never happened must be corrected.
Regardless of the claims made by our Hon. James Flaherty regarding the fairness of taxing phantom income – few, (if any), Canadians who have taken the time to really get the facts on this issue agree with him.
The U.S.A. congress doesn’t support Flaherty’s view as they have already amended their equivalent phantom income tax legislation and fairly compensated those U.S. taxpayers who had already been victimized by it. Ref: www.reformamt.org
As a Canadian taxpayer you are paying the salaries of every government employee – from the Prime Minister on down so do not hesitate to make your demands for service known to them.
Being one of those who are paying this band of politicians for service you have the right to name a few tunes.
See you at the voting polls for the next federal elction O’Grady.
Victor Drummond ©
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
THE FUTILE QUEST FOR JUSTICE..
THE FUTILE QUEST FOR JUSTICE IN CANADA
Canada as a nation -- where citizens are assured of “fair” and equal treatment under tax laws and justice when victimized by government criminal action -- no longer exists.
A Canadian robbed on the street, by hoodlums, may obtain justice through the courts but a Canadian victimized by those who administer Canada’s tax laws has little recourse – the victims must prove they can not afford to pay the tax, i.e. are “HARDSHIP” cases.
In what way does “hardship” justify tax relief when justice is denied all other similar victims?
A commentary by Victor Drummond ©
February 2010
A superficial glance at Canada would leave the observer fully convinced Canadians have the greatest system of government that anyone could possibly want.
Canadians have a constitution that guarantees them equal treatment under the laws of Canada.
We also have an updated “Taxpayers Bill of Rights” that again assures them of equal treatment under the tax laws of Canada.
On top of that we have a government publication bearing the title: “Serving Canadians – Canada’s System of Justice” which declares “fairness” is a primary purpose of Canada’s laws and legal system.
Ref: http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/dept-min/pub/just/img/courten.pdf
Furthermore this document declares Canadians are assumed to be innocent, of any criminal charges, until proven guilty in a court of law.
To guarantee the above rights are readily available to all Canadians we have a Federal Minister of Justice, and a Supreme Court of Canada and a “Taxpayers Ombudsman”. What more could any person want in their land of opportunity?
In view of the foregoing assurances and guarantees none of the following events could ever happen in Canada.
(1) A plan to fight the “brain-drain” during the Hi-Tech boom years could never result in those who participated and remained loyal to their Canadian employers – and to Canada -- being taxed into financial ruin by the Canadian government. But it did happen and still does.
(2) No Canadian would ever be taxed on an unproven, one sided assumption, made by a Canadian government agency. i.e. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). But it did happen and still does.
(3) Any Canadian who has been taxed on the same basis as the 37 former employees of the SDL Optics Inc/JDS Uniphase plant in Saanich British Columbia -- who had their taxes and related penalties revoked by way of a “Tax Remission Order” (TRO) – are automatically assured of the same “fair” tax treatment.
Nothing could be further from the truth. All other phantom income tax victims have been excluded from the tax treatment given the SDL Optics/JDS Uniphase victims.
(4) When our Prime Minister (PM) commits to “resolving” this unfair, unjust, tax issue you can rest assured it will be corrected. That is the way it should be – but it is not. Our PM reneged on this commitment.
The PM’s commitment was made two years ago and all that has happened since is the topic has been stonewalled by the PM and House of Commons in spite of a motion by the members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) to have the problem corrected.
(5)When such examples -- of injustice, and departures from the intent of “Canada’s System of Justice” document -- would be brought to the attention of Canada’s Minister of Justice he would automatically initiate corrective action.
That is the way any observer would expect the system to work – but it doesn’t work that way. This issue was sent to the attention of the Hon. Rob. Nicholson, CP, MP, Minister of Justice,over a year ago and absolutely nothing happened. Apparently the job of the Minister of Justice is not to assure Canadians actually receive justice.
(6) In order to have their appeal for justice reviewed, by the Supreme Court of Canada, a victim must first have their appeal for justice denied by a lower court. Several victims have tried hiring a tax lawyer and taken their quest for justice to a lower court.
Every such case, I have been made aware of, were denied on the basis that Canada’s tax laws have not been violated. And so far I have not been made aware of any of these denied cases being taken to the Supreme Court of Canada for a ruling.
Why?
Because (so far) taking an appeal to court has been a case of throwing good money after bad and those hit hardest by this tax trap do not have the monetary resources to have another go at the courts in their quest for justice.
A person would expect that when a few victimized Canadians have been granted fair treatment, by way of a TRO, that a precedent has been set that should guarantee the same treatment would be granted similar victims by a court of law.
According to Tax Court of Canada, Chief Justice Donald Bowman the court judges are not bound to observe any precedent that has been set by way of previous judgements.
Ref: http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/dept-min/pub/just/img/courten.pdf
Following is the important text from this document: “taxpayers would probably be surprised to learn that Canadian courts have generally refused to recognize a duty of consistency on the part of the CRA in the course of administering and enforcing the Income Tax Act, and have expressly held that the CRA has no positive legal obligation to treat similarly situated taxpayers consistently As stated by now Chief Justice Bowman of the Tax Court.”
So first impressions of the justice guaranteed Canada’s citizens are purely a façade. The Prime Minister and his gang of mandarins have found a way to control the elected members of the House of Commons, and the leaders of Canada’s Loyal opposition Parties, rendering these two watchdogs of Canadian justice totally ineffective.
Every Canadian voter is entitled to know the position the political party -- they prefer to vote for – has on the phantom tax issue.
But that information has been denied, time after time, by the current MP’s and federal political party leaders.
Until I receive that information I won’t vote for any of them -- and you shouldn’t either.
Canadians have recently been receiving wake-up calls from newspaper journalists such as James Travers who had his article: “PM wakes a sleeping electorate” published in the Jan 28, 2010 on-line edition of the Toronto Star
The important message in this article being: “Imagine a confidential manual instructing chairs to manipulate, obstruct and, when necessary, sabotage committees. Imagine directly challenging the independence and objectivity of the chief electoral officer, sacking the nuclear safety watchdog for dutiful barking and then systematically choking counterparts probing issues as diverse and seminal as timely access to information.”
Some democracy Canada is becoming – it is beginning to make a dictatorship look good by comparison.
Canadian voters have tolerated far too much deception on the part of our federal political leaders and it is now time to take corrective action.
Notify your local riding MP you demand they honestly represent the best interests of their constituents, and all Canadians, by making a commitment to have the tax on phantom income revoked and all those already victimized, by it, to be fairly compensated.
The U.S.A. government has corrected their equivalent defective “Alternative Minimum Tax” (AMT) legislation Canada’s government has no excuse for continuing this travesty of justice including unequal treatment of Canadian victims.
See you at the voting polls for the next federal election O’Grady.
Victor Drummond ©
Canada as a nation -- where citizens are assured of “fair” and equal treatment under tax laws and justice when victimized by government criminal action -- no longer exists.
A Canadian robbed on the street, by hoodlums, may obtain justice through the courts but a Canadian victimized by those who administer Canada’s tax laws has little recourse – the victims must prove they can not afford to pay the tax, i.e. are “HARDSHIP” cases.
In what way does “hardship” justify tax relief when justice is denied all other similar victims?
A commentary by Victor Drummond ©
February 2010
A superficial glance at Canada would leave the observer fully convinced Canadians have the greatest system of government that anyone could possibly want.
Canadians have a constitution that guarantees them equal treatment under the laws of Canada.
We also have an updated “Taxpayers Bill of Rights” that again assures them of equal treatment under the tax laws of Canada.
On top of that we have a government publication bearing the title: “Serving Canadians – Canada’s System of Justice” which declares “fairness” is a primary purpose of Canada’s laws and legal system.
Ref: http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/dept-min/pub/just/img/courten.pdf
Furthermore this document declares Canadians are assumed to be innocent, of any criminal charges, until proven guilty in a court of law.
To guarantee the above rights are readily available to all Canadians we have a Federal Minister of Justice, and a Supreme Court of Canada and a “Taxpayers Ombudsman”. What more could any person want in their land of opportunity?
In view of the foregoing assurances and guarantees none of the following events could ever happen in Canada.
(1) A plan to fight the “brain-drain” during the Hi-Tech boom years could never result in those who participated and remained loyal to their Canadian employers – and to Canada -- being taxed into financial ruin by the Canadian government. But it did happen and still does.
(2) No Canadian would ever be taxed on an unproven, one sided assumption, made by a Canadian government agency. i.e. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). But it did happen and still does.
(3) Any Canadian who has been taxed on the same basis as the 37 former employees of the SDL Optics Inc/JDS Uniphase plant in Saanich British Columbia -- who had their taxes and related penalties revoked by way of a “Tax Remission Order” (TRO) – are automatically assured of the same “fair” tax treatment.
Nothing could be further from the truth. All other phantom income tax victims have been excluded from the tax treatment given the SDL Optics/JDS Uniphase victims.
(4) When our Prime Minister (PM) commits to “resolving” this unfair, unjust, tax issue you can rest assured it will be corrected. That is the way it should be – but it is not. Our PM reneged on this commitment.
The PM’s commitment was made two years ago and all that has happened since is the topic has been stonewalled by the PM and House of Commons in spite of a motion by the members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) to have the problem corrected.
(5)When such examples -- of injustice, and departures from the intent of “Canada’s System of Justice” document -- would be brought to the attention of Canada’s Minister of Justice he would automatically initiate corrective action.
That is the way any observer would expect the system to work – but it doesn’t work that way. This issue was sent to the attention of the Hon. Rob. Nicholson, CP, MP, Minister of Justice,over a year ago and absolutely nothing happened. Apparently the job of the Minister of Justice is not to assure Canadians actually receive justice.
(6) In order to have their appeal for justice reviewed, by the Supreme Court of Canada, a victim must first have their appeal for justice denied by a lower court. Several victims have tried hiring a tax lawyer and taken their quest for justice to a lower court.
Every such case, I have been made aware of, were denied on the basis that Canada’s tax laws have not been violated. And so far I have not been made aware of any of these denied cases being taken to the Supreme Court of Canada for a ruling.
Why?
Because (so far) taking an appeal to court has been a case of throwing good money after bad and those hit hardest by this tax trap do not have the monetary resources to have another go at the courts in their quest for justice.
A person would expect that when a few victimized Canadians have been granted fair treatment, by way of a TRO, that a precedent has been set that should guarantee the same treatment would be granted similar victims by a court of law.
According to Tax Court of Canada, Chief Justice Donald Bowman the court judges are not bound to observe any precedent that has been set by way of previous judgements.
Ref: http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/dept-min/pub/just/img/courten.pdf
Following is the important text from this document: “taxpayers would probably be surprised to learn that Canadian courts have generally refused to recognize a duty of consistency on the part of the CRA in the course of administering and enforcing the Income Tax Act, and have expressly held that the CRA has no positive legal obligation to treat similarly situated taxpayers consistently As stated by now Chief Justice Bowman of the Tax Court.”
So first impressions of the justice guaranteed Canada’s citizens are purely a façade. The Prime Minister and his gang of mandarins have found a way to control the elected members of the House of Commons, and the leaders of Canada’s Loyal opposition Parties, rendering these two watchdogs of Canadian justice totally ineffective.
Every Canadian voter is entitled to know the position the political party -- they prefer to vote for – has on the phantom tax issue.
But that information has been denied, time after time, by the current MP’s and federal political party leaders.
Until I receive that information I won’t vote for any of them -- and you shouldn’t either.
Canadians have recently been receiving wake-up calls from newspaper journalists such as James Travers who had his article: “PM wakes a sleeping electorate” published in the Jan 28, 2010 on-line edition of the Toronto Star
The important message in this article being: “Imagine a confidential manual instructing chairs to manipulate, obstruct and, when necessary, sabotage committees. Imagine directly challenging the independence and objectivity of the chief electoral officer, sacking the nuclear safety watchdog for dutiful barking and then systematically choking counterparts probing issues as diverse and seminal as timely access to information.”
Some democracy Canada is becoming – it is beginning to make a dictatorship look good by comparison.
Canadian voters have tolerated far too much deception on the part of our federal political leaders and it is now time to take corrective action.
Notify your local riding MP you demand they honestly represent the best interests of their constituents, and all Canadians, by making a commitment to have the tax on phantom income revoked and all those already victimized, by it, to be fairly compensated.
The U.S.A. government has corrected their equivalent defective “Alternative Minimum Tax” (AMT) legislation Canada’s government has no excuse for continuing this travesty of justice including unequal treatment of Canadian victims.
See you at the voting polls for the next federal election O’Grady.
Victor Drummond ©
Sunday, January 31, 2010
CANADA IS A DEMOCRACY ..
CANADA IS A DEMOCRACY IN NAME ONLY
It is the unelected senior bureaucrats in Canada’s Department of Finance and The Canada Revenue Agency that actually dictate the conduct of Canada’s Prime Minister and Members of the House of Commons.
Victor Drummond ©
January 2010
At long last a Canadian Newspaper has published an article that should be a wake-up call to all Canadians. On Wednesday, January 27, 2010 the on-line Toronto Star contained an editorial with the title: “Time to address democratic deficit.”
Ref: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/756262--time-to-address-democratic-deficit#article
This report came as a surprise to me because, until now, it seemed to me Canadian News Media were mainly cowed into conforming to Canadian government guidelines forbidding publishing comments or articles unfavourable to the government. A kind of censorship.
The information presented came as no surprise, however, as I had already observed the transition of Canada’s government from a democracy to a dictatorship during my lifetime.
And it is not our elected members in the House of Commons, or our Prime Minister that are calling the shots these days.
When Stephen Harper suddenly did an about face and went completely silent, on the outrageous phantom tax issue, following the warning: “JDS deal dangerous precedent.” issued in December 2007, by senior “bureaucrats” in the Department of Finance and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), it became painfully obvious who is really running Canada’s government.
Prior to this directive Prime Minister Harper was a participant in getting the Gary Lunn, Tax Remission Order, (TRO), approved in order to revoke the tax on phantom income for 37 former employees of the defunct SDL Optics Inc (JDS Uniphase) plant in Gary Lunn’s riding of Saanich Gulf Islands, British Columbia.
Harper would not have approved this TRO if he had the slightest doubt the tax was totally unjustified, unfair and abusive to those honest, hard-working Canadians who were being victimized by it.
At the time this TRO was announced, with plenty political fanfare, Harper was asked by a Victoria Times Colonist Newspaper, Columnist, (Cindy E. Harnett) if his government would extend the tax treatment, provided by the TRO, to other Canadian victims of the tax on phantom income?
Harper’s reply implied he would take action to extend the fair taxation provisions of the TRO to all Canadians victimized in this way when he answered: “we’ll get it resolved – it will take a change of code.”
But following a directive issued by those unelected “senior bureaucrats” Harper did a prompt about face and began to stonewall all appeals for the equal treatment under the laws of Canada that are guaranteed under provisions of the (May 2007) updated “Taxpayers Bill of Rights”.
Having Canada governed by unelected senior bureaucrats might not be such a bad thing if those bureaucrats displayed any qualities of compassion, honesty, decency or fairness. But it is obvious from the fact they warned the Prime Minister against fulfilling his commitment to “resolve” the phantom tax issue they do not concern themselves with none monetary items. They are strictly business oriented. Integrity, honesty, dependability, compassion fairness or justice have no place in their value system.
Their primary concern appears to be to collect all the tax money they can and if possible produce a federal budget surplus which would provide the government with excess funds, some of which may find its way into their pockets in the form of bonuses and/or pay raises.
How about the Prime Minister being held accountable by those MP’s who have been elected to the House of Commons to represent and protect the best interests of all Canadians – especially their constituents? That is the way it is supposed to work – but it no longer does.
The recent Prime Ministers of Canada have created committees to address the concerns of MP’s and rule on any action to be taken to correct an issue. By appointing personal mandarins to head up the committees they have created -- the Prime Minister effectively controls Parliament.
If you doubt the validity of the foregoing statements try getting anyone in Canada’s government to give you a position statement on the phantom income tax issue. Not even the leaders of Canada’s Loyal Opposition parties will so much as reply to a request for that information.
Why? What are they afraid of?
Every Canadian has a right to this information in order to make an informed decision when it comes time to vote for a representative in Parliament.
If Canadians do not pay attention to the changes going on in our system of government, and take action to restore true democracy, they may wake up one day in the same position as the group of German students who found a time has arrived “When Truth is Treason”.
In spite of the loudly proclaimed statements by our Honourable James M. Flaherty MP, CP, Minister of Finance, telling us that taxation of phantom income is “fair”, nearly everyone who takes the time to understand this outrageous tax concludes it is not fair, or even justified in any sense of the word.
If anyone claims it is OK to apply this tax because the victims are all well heeled executives that made bundles of money during the Hi-Tech stock market boom and are now trying to avoid pay a legitimate tax – don’t believe them.
For every fat cat executive that fits that description there are hundreds of ordinary, clerks and production line workers caught in the same tax trap.
Just examine the Gary Lunn TRO victims to see the proof of that statement.
Even the few fat cat executives that did exist are entitled to a fair tax levy.
The U.S.A. government corrected their equivalent, defective, phantom income tax legislation, last October, and Canada has no excuse for continuing this travesty of justice. Ref: www.reformamt.org
Contact your riding MP and inform them you want the tax on phantom income stopped immediately and those already victimized by it to be fairly compensated – just as the Americans have done, or “No Vote” in the coming federal election.
See you at the voting polls in the next federal election O’Grady.
Victor Drummond ©
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