Hissing is Everywhere!

Does anyone else hear the hissing?

The Internet tells me that a former French Finance Minister once famously declared that “the art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing.” And boy oh boy, it sounds like hissing cats lately! More than ever I hear from colleagues and clients and even CRA acquaintances (names withheld) that the tax system is increasingly excessively complex and people are sick of it. This year even accountants like myself complained, and to be frank we get paid to deal with complexity, it is good for business, so when we complain, head for the hills!

I get that taxation is a necessary burden for a well functioning government. And I personally hold the view that a strong government that cares for those who need caring is vital. And societal inequality remains a constant battle that deserves greater attention.

Yet that doesn't necessitate that we must have a more and more complex tax system. Look at the track record of both the Red and Blue governments in the last 20 years. Each has brought in way too many boutique tax credits, special exemptions, different thresholds, special benefits, geographic exclusions, extra brackets, new concepts, additional subjectivity, a lack of consultation and inadequate drafting. The recent UHT and Bare Trust rules and Capital Gains inclusion rate changes are just the most current examples of a system gone wrong.

Whomever is in charge, now and in the future, they need to recognize that an increasingly complex system leads to tax avoidance and frankly a lack of faith in the system. Nobody in their right mind would design the tax system we have from scratch and so it is time for serious tax reform. We need comprehensive tax reform from the ground up.

Thanks for reading my rant! Share your thoughts in the comments.