Newsletter

One Comment About Taxation – The “Dad Tax” Lesson Governments Keep Ignoring   When my kids were younger, I used to impose what they jokingly called the “Dad tax”. If we went out for dinner and they ordered something that looked particularly good, I would demand a small sample as my tax for paying the…

One Comment About Taxation – To “Break the Glass” on Productivity, We Must Fix the Capital Gains Lock-in   A number of years ago, when I was leading our firm, I was frustrated. We were very busy but we weren’t moving forward as quickly as we should have been. We had too many “good ideas.”…

One Comment About Taxation – Reading, Writing and the Arithmetic of B.C.’s Budget   As a child, I always loved the “three R’s” of my education: reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic. Since the federal and provincial governments have March 31 fiscal year ends, the budgets for the upcoming years are starting to be presented (except for…

One Comment About Taxation – Promises Aren’t Paycheques — And Paper Gains Aren’t Income   Let’s pretend your boss promises you a big raise and a bonus. The catch? You won’t actually receive either for another 24 months.   Now imagine the government taxes you on that promise today.   Say the raise and bonus…

One Comment About Taxation – Beyond Tax Gimmicks, Canada Needs Big Bang Personal Tax Reform Over the years, I have learned that to keep good physical health, it takes a dedicated commitment to good habits like healthy eating and rigorous fitness activities. The key is consistency, which spills into other benefits such as improved mental…

One Comment About Taxation – The ‘Groceries and Essentials Benefit’ Won’t Fix Affordability — It’s Politics, Not Policy Like most Canadians, I regularly visit the grocery store to pick up some essentials. After every visit, I’m astonished – not just by the price tag, but by how few staples that price actually buys. I often…

One Comment About Taxation – Friction Isn’t a Virtue in Tax Filing —  Automation Is I like many things that are automatic. Automatic transmissions. Automatic doors. Automatic bill payments. Automatic software updates. In each case, the automatic feature makes my life easier by handling routine functions or frictions that I’d otherwise have to spend time on…

One Comment About Taxation – Canadians Deserve Less  Drama During “Tax Season” – Suggestions For Improvements The mid-January blues…you have them yet?? If it helps to pull you out of them, here’s a gentle reminder that you have roughly 3.5 months to file your 2025 personal tax return. Awesome, eh? You can start getting all of your receipts…

One Comment About Taxation – Lessons For Canada to Learn From the Ill-Conceived California Ballot-Initiative to Introduce a One-Time “Billionaires Tax” About 15 years ago, one of my sons got into trouble at his elementary school. His crime? He didn’t like a particular teacher so, with the encouragement of some of his friends, he started a…

One Comment About Taxation – Taxation Policies Matter – Especially When it Comes to the Fluidity of Capital Recently, I’ve been using Amazon a lot. From books and Christmas gifts to preparing my own book for release on their platform, it’s a slick platform that millions of people around the world use. And it made its creative…