Taxing churches sounds like a great idea

[nucksRnum1]

Northern municipality is talking about charging church property taxes. I am personally all for it.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/iqaluit-m ... -1.5487184

[Glacier]

Northern municipality is talking about charging church property taxes. I am personally all for it.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/iqaluit-m ... -1.5487184

What about Mosques? Or Legions? Or Summer Camp clubs?

[seewood]

If they are receiving services(water, sewer, fire protection) from the town, city etc. , tax them for it.

[my5cents]

The reasoning for the tax exemption disqualification is because of the churches involvement with residential schools.

I'd remove the exemption because ALL churches should pay taxes.

A tax exemption for any organization should be based on the percentage of money directly paid to charities as a percentage of income. (and no, not the slight of hand like the Canadian Cancer Society where about 75% of their income is eaten up by expenses)

If an organization is based on the belief ancient folklore I don't see how that qualifies them for a tax exemption.

[GordonH]

Highly unlikely taxing churches will happen, mainly because politicians don’t usually commit political suicide.

[my5cents]

Highly unlikely taxing churches will happen, mainly because politicians don’t usually commit political suicide.

So true

[Glacier]

If they are receiving services(water, sewer, fire protection) from the town, city etc. , tax them for it.

Okay, ya, I can agree with that. I was just making sure you weren't making some bigoted statement.

[Merry]

The reasoning for the tax exemption disqualification is because of the churches involvement with residential schools.

I'd remove the exemption because ALL churches should pay taxes.

A tax exemption for any organization should be based on the percentage of money directly paid to charities as a percentage of income. (and no, not the slight of hand like the Canadian Cancer Society where about 75% of their income is eaten up by expenses)

If an organization is based on the belief ancient folklore I don't see how that qualifies them for a tax exemption.

I think an organizations tax exempt status should be based on how much service they provide to the community. For example, if a local church does a lot of work with the homeless (thereby saving the Govt from spending tax dollars to do the same) then they should be given tax free status.

And, by the way, I 100% agree with you about the Canadian Cancer Society. I once worked with them, in a volunteer capacity, for a year and was shocked at the level of waste by employees of that organization. So much so, that I now refuse to donate a single dime to them, preferring instead to donate directly to groups involved in cancer research that have a proven track record.

[Babba_not_Gump]

I'm more concerned about us taxpayers subsidizing religious schools to the tune of 50%.

Religions get a break on property taxes, then set up a school and the parents of the pupils then receive a 50% deduction on tuition.
Taxpayers are being screwed.

[my5cents]

I'm more concerned about us taxpayers subsidizing religious schools to the tune of 50%.

Religions get a break on property taxes, then set up a school and the parents of the pupils then receive a 50% deduction on tuition.
Taxpayers are being screwed.

Yes, the private religious schools, and also the non-religious private schools, a whole other topic.

I have friends who are well off and can't understand what is wrong with having private schools, private hospitals. They say: "If we have a private school for our children we are alleviating pressure on the public system, what's wrong with that ?". To which I say "absolutely nothing, as long as you pay every cent of the cost, nothing from the government."

Now ...

[Bsuds]

We all pay school taxes so if their kids are going to a private school then why not the taxes they pay go to them too?

[alanjh595]

I prefer that those of us that don't have kids, should be skool tax exempt.

[GordonH]

I prefer that those of us that don't have kids, should be skool tax exempt.

Good luck with that idea.

[alanjh595]

Yeah, ........I know that.

BUT, I do think that FNs should also be paying taxes, with no breaks on sales tax exemptions.

[my5cents]

We all pay school taxes so if their kids are going to a private school then why not the taxes they pay go to them too?

That's the exact argument the wealthy made years ago. If that was accepted then aren't we closing in on pay for service ? If you can deduct the amount you'd pay for school tax so that you could pay it to a private school, the private school is going to charge so much a student, so why should I pay any school taxes. Then shouldn't someone with two, three or more kids pay so much per child even for public school ?

Slippery slope.

There are many countries that don't allow private schools. All funds are directed at the one public school system. Yup the son of the billionaire learns his ABC's with the son of a janitor.

In BC it was a continual fight for years, the wealthy just kept supporting politicians who would bend to their wishes, and they did.

So if I don't support Canada having a military. Can I subtract that amount from my federal income tax ?