Editor:
Re: Tax breaks ‘unfair’, March 19.
Viewed initially, Harry Kitchen’s article about eliminating senior discounts to those who are well off, sounds like a no-brainer. However, he recommends grants and special aid be targeted to all low-income people in need.
There is the crux of the problem; how to arrange this without requiring an expensive bureaucracy, given that everyone expects the same freebie as the next person, and is very proficient at understating and hiding their assets.
Remember that CPP is simply taxed back for those seniors with income, and that property-tax reduction on principal residence is no longer in effect for a lot of them. Leaving in place such senior perks as cheaper travel and discounts on various services and activities is more likely to stimulate senior usage and participation, getting us to spend our funds, recycling money and stimulating the economy. It is hard to resist a bargain.
Rather than targeting deals for seniors, the reform that is needed is in property taxation, which is being expected to cover the majority of municipal services. Many adult children are living with parents; and multiple families are living in one house, incurring just one property tax. Surely some form of adult-capitation basis should be evolved to cover the expenses such people are generating but for which they avoid payment.
Anthony Walter, Surrey