Liberal tax promise broken, soldiers "kicked in the stomach"

[Gone_Fishin]

Soldiers serving in Kuwait lose major tax exemption


Hundreds of Canadian soldiers in the mission against ISIS are about to lose a tax break worth thousands. Mercedes Stephenson reports.

Mercedes Stephenson, Reporter, Ottawa Bureau, CTV National News
@CTVMercedes

Published Wednesday, February 8, 2017 10:03PM EST
Last Updated Wednesday, February 8, 2017 10:39PM EST


Canadian troops critical to the fight against ISIS have lost a major tax break that had saved them more than $9,000 each over the course of a six-month tour.

The tax breaks, worth between $1,500 to $1,800 per month, are provided to soldiers who meet certain criteria related to the risk of their duties and the relative hardship of their living conditions while deployed overseas.


Snip.....


One soldier told CTV News that, out of all the nations fighting ISIS, he believes the Canadians are the only ones who will not be getting the tax break. The Pentagon confirmed to CTV News that all American soldiers deployed to Iraq receive tax exemption status.

Military sources say the change is already causing hardships. One deployed soldier supports his disabled sister and pays his elderly mother’s mortgage, and now their financial future is uncertain.

His mother, Glenda Lindsay, said it feels as though her son is being cheated. “They're cutting corners at the troops' expense,” she told CTV News.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan promised to fix the situation at a defence committee meeting on Dec. 1 when he was pressed by Conservative Defence Critic, James Bezan.

But there has yet to be any change. One affected soldier feels like “we got kicked in the stomach."


See video and full story here: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/soldiers-s ... -1.3277313

[Chyren]

http://www.fin.gc.ca/access/tt-it/desig ... es-eng.asp

A bit more information.

http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/news/article ... l/hnocfnlx

The original announcement from 2004

I'm not a big "anti-government" guy and usually try to look deeper into stories then to accept them at face value (like we all should) but the optics of this are horrible and to show you comparisons between the government vs the average soldier:

The base salary of a member of Parliament jumps to $163,700 from $160,200, a 2.2 per cent increase. Senators will receive a 2.58 per cent increase to $138,700 from $135,200. By law, senators make $25,000 less than MPs.Apr 1, 2014
(not including benefits and pension)

Job: Member of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Salary: Starts at about $30,000 a year and increases to more than $55,000, depending on rank and occupation.

How exactly does cutting a tax break for someone in our Armed Forces make the sitting government look good?

I wish there was a face palm slap icon because it should be inserted here....

[Rwede]

Trudeau is so power and money hungry that he's now attacking the meagre pay of our brave armed forces personnel, too.

I think all Canadians should feel kicked in the stomach with what he has done.

[FreeRights]

Since it's being discussed here, let me quote a very good response in the other thread.

The point is simple, if the military scores the posting as moderate or above risk, then the exemption applies.

The military brass apparently do not see the Kuwait posting as high risk. So no exemption.

There has to be some kind of standards applied. I can't judge the Kuwait situation. But hypothetically, if a navy person is posted to Pearl Harbor as a liaison, that would be low risk - so no exemption. Conversely, if someone is posted to Mosul operations, even as a cook, then the risk is high.

Not about to try and second guess the military assessment of risk. They are the ones on the ground in Kuwait. For all we know, the folks dropped from the exemption are quartermaster clerks. We just don't have enough info.

[Rwede]

Totally disgusting how the flippant elitist Trudeau brushes off the whole issue.


http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1058 ... b03e89de5d