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Harper government and income splitting: Selected news and analysis

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Author: 
various
Publication Date: 
18 Feb 2014

 

Selection of reports, blogs and news covering the Harper government's promise to implement income splitting and the post budget remarks by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty who "publicly voiced concerns that, because it would not benefit the vast majority of Canadians, perhaps we should hold off on income-splitting".

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We're splitsville on income-splitting... now what?
by Erika Shaker, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Behind the numbers, 17 Feb 2014

Excerpt:

"It looks like we may see "enhancements" to another inadequate initiative -- the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB). In fact, the UCCB's current annual $2.7 billion dollars-for-diapers-but-not-for-daycare tab could be doubled by adding to it what the "Family Tax Cut" would have cost. (Think of it as a box of Pot of Gold chocolates on top of the bouquet of wilted red carnations picked up from the drugstore on the way home.)

 

Do the math (actually, the CCPA has already done it for you). That's over $5 billion that could help create a universal child-care program that not only helps care for and educate kids across the country, but also gives back to society in jobs and self-sustaining economic and social stimulus. And we know this because we have a living, breathing, working example in Quebec".

National child care a good alternative to income splitting: expert
by Maria Babbage
City News, 15 Feb 2014

Interview with David Macdonald

Excerpt:

"If the Tories want to help families with children, they could look at existing child-based benefits, such as the national child benefit supplement, he suggests. It provides monthly payments to low-income families with children, no matter if it's one or two parents, and reduces them as they earn more income.

 

The working income tax benefit, meanwhile, helps single parents in particular by giving them an extra boost to join the workforce. "If you're looking at helping families with children, it's quite clear that these other measures are ones that are more effective."

 

Finally, says Macdonald, a national child-care program would cost about the same as the income-splitting plan, which is estimated at upwards of $2.5 billion a year".

 

A look at income splitting and its alternatives: Finance Minister Jim Flaherty 'not sure that overall it benefits our society'
by Trinh Theresa Do,
CBC News, 15 Feb 2014

John Ivison: Flaherty and Harper agree child care benefit a better policy than income splitting
National Post, 14 Feb 2014

Paul Kershaw: What we need is a new deal for families
The Province, 13 Feb 2014

Income splitting: So divisive it's splitting the Tories
Broadbent Institute, 13 Feb 2014

Why Harper's going 'Mad Men' retro with his $3-billion tax gift to social conservatives.
by Andrew Jackson
The Tyee, 12 Feb 2014

Income splitting in Canada: Inequality by design
by David Macdonald
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 28 Jan 2014

Income splitting misinformation campaign: volume 10
PressProgress, 30 Dec 2013 

Costly and unfair: Stephen Harper's income-splitting scheme
by Andrew Jackson
Broadbent Institute, 7 Oct 2013

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