39b917c8
XPost: can.general, can.politics, ott.general
From: Canuck57@nospam.com
On 19/10/2011 8:36 AM, Alan Baggett wrote:
> On Oct 18, 8:38 pm, Canuck57 wrote:
>> On 18/10/2011 4:37 PM, Alan Baggett wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> 752 Fisherman Finally Get Tax Justice : CRA SOTW
>>
>>> Payback time
>>
>>> Published on September 28, 2011 Published on September 28, 2011
>>
>>> It’s about time. Monday, 752 fishermen found out that the federal
>>> government is finally going to treat them fairly after years and years
>>> of dragging its feet.
>>
>>> It’s a case that dates back to 2000, when the Canada Revenue Agency
>>> (CRA) told fishermen that they would have to pay capital gains tax on
>>> fisheries buyout packages. Scores of fishermen did — but a group of
>>> fishermen took the CRA to court, and the revenue agency offered them a
>>> settlement.
>>
>>> The 752 others were not told about the deal, because the successful
>>> fishermen had to sign confidentiality agreements about the settlement.
>>
>>> By the time word finally leaked out, the time limitation on taking
>>> action against the CRA had expired, with the CRA laughing all the way
>>> to the bank.
>>
>>> For years, the fishermen who had been kept in the dark argued that the
>>> case should be reopened, and that they should have an opportunity to
>>> have their taxes reassessed.
>>> In May, a Newfoundland Supreme Court judge agreed, and Monday, the
>>> federal government finally said it would not be appealing the decision
>>> and that the reassessments would begin. The decision not to appeal is
>>> just about the first decent thing the federal government has done
>>> during this whole sordid saga.
>>
>>> The case has been dragging on for a decade in a battle where the CRA
>>> held all the cards and made all the decisions. Fishermen who should
>>> have received reassessments no question asked after the first
>>> settlements, instead had to hire lawyers and fight to keep the issue
>>> on the public and political agendas.
>>
>>> Their lawyer, Eli Baker, says almost all of his clients are living
>>> below the poverty line, some of them unable to heat their homes
>>> properly in winter.
>>
>>> The CRA certainly has a responsibility to ensure that it isn’t simply
>>> handing out reassessments willy-nilly, but this kind of high-handed
>>> treatment of citizens with little ability to challenge its actions is
>>> nothing short of despicable.
>>
>>> Now that the battle is over, hopefully the fishermen will get their
>>> due — not only the thousands of dollars of taxes that were improperly
>>> collected, but also a decade’s-worth of interest on the amount. It’s
>>> unlikely to do anything to dispel the deep mistrust these people must
>>> have for an agency of their government.
>>
>>> But there are things the money can’t do. It’s little reward for the 76
>>> fishermen who have died since the money was paid out in error.
>>
>>> And nothing will undo the most despicable aspect of the government’s
>>> behaviour: insisting on confidentiality agreements as part of a
>>> settlement to essentially deprive other fishermen from knowing they
>>> had an opportunity to challenge the decision. At that point, the CRA
>>> should have notified everyone affected about its new determination
>>> about fishing licence buybacks and capital gains.
>>
>>> Unequal treatment when you’ve already admitted you’ve made a mistake,
>>> and then waiting for time limitations to expire so that you can keep
>>> money you’ve already admitted you shouldn’t have taken? It’s not the
>>> way a government agency should behave.
>>
>> Still cleaning up Liberal bullshit?
>>
>> But really, if I own something like that but not fishery, I would have
>> to pay. Sounds like Liberals were pulling favors for buddies and
>> kickbacks. The tax system is about government screwing the people.
>>
>> All the same, better in their pockets. Ottawa would just waste it.
>>
>> --
>> Eat the rich, screw the companies and wonder why there are no jobs. But
>> we have big huge government we can't afford...
>> -- Obama and the lefty fleabagger attitude- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> It's a shame that they didn't just treat everybody the same from the
> getgo.
>
> What a waste of taxpayer's dollars going to court to fight a losing
> cause.
And why the system is corrupt. Too many screwed up loop holes. But
lawyers love it, so we often elect lawyers...makes no sense. We need a
leader that isn't a corrupted academic profession government chair
mushroom and nor a lawyer snake.
Tax system needs lower rates and less holes. Including the one Paul
Martian and other use.
--
Eat the rich, screw the companies and wonder why there are no jobs. But
we have big huge government we can't afford...
-- Obama and the lefty fleabagger attitude
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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