Tax Fairness Blog

In Canada, there is one set of tax rules for corporate insiders, another for the rest of us. The stock option loophole is among the more blatant examples of this lopsided state of affairs.

It is a favourite of bank presidents and other wealthy CEOs. Under current tax laws, they can be paid in stock options and later cash them in, drawing millions in income. But, unlike a regular salary, the first 50 per cent of stock option income is tax free. What’s not for these guys to love?

Will Canada's largest tax case ever draw a line in the sand for what behaviour politicians will accept from corporate tax dodgers?  Columnist Murray Dobbin says that line is more important than ever. 

Cameco’s $2.2 billion tax trial starts today in Toronto. The same day that MPs from the Parliamentary Finance Committee are in Regina to consult with taxpayers about how to manage priorities in the next federal budget.That committee need only look at the Saskatchewan case to get a clear roadmap about how to proceed.

Wealthy multinationals are getting a reality check. They are waking up to a world no longer willing to look the other way while they play the tax dodging game.

The most powerful example is the recent European Commission ruling that Apple owes Ireland $19 billion in unpaid taxes. The tax dispute was the result of the Irish government making a sweetheart deal with Apple that has lasted more than a decade. The money is to be paid to Ireland – a small country of 4.6 million, which could afford to pay every man, woman, and child over $4,000 each.

Could the situation be more perverse? The world's richest company enjoys generous, possibly illegal corporate aid from the Irish government, while Ireland's youth unemployment rate is 18 per cent and waitlists for health care soar.   And it is a scenario that plays out all over the world.  This stark reality is the subject of an insightful blog from Canadian economist Armine Yalnizyan. 

Canada foregoes tax revenues when multinationals slip the money to tax havens. Those billions could fund a pharmacare system many times over and we would have a healthier country. 

Canada's tax system needs reform and it is up to MPs to make sure that happens.  That's the message from NDP MP and Finance Committee member Guy Caron. In this opinion piece he explores the challenges and issues a call to action for a non-partisan discussion. 

Unions have often called for increasing corporate taxes as a primary way to raise revenue. But in this recent blog originally published in OntarioNewsWatch,  Brad James suggests closing loopholes and tax dodging as a primary goal.  James heads the organizing department for the United Steelworkers.  But the opinion expressed below is his personal take. You can follow him on Twitter @jamesbrad263

Canadians for Tax Fairness invites you to join us at the upcoming World Social Forum in Montreal! From August 9-14, join thousands of people from around the world committed to a better world.

Earlier this month Canada's Parliamentary Finance Committee decided to gag both itself and expert witnesses. That happened when a KPMG lawyer wrote them a letter warning them not to refer to a tax haven scheme long under investigation. That backtrack didn't help the crisis of public confidence in Canada’s tax system. Former senior public servant Alan Freeman explores the strange state of affairs that is plaguing how Canadians perceive the tax system.