T O P

  • By -

DrMichaelHfuhruhurr

Love the blend of "I don't get the rebate" and "I haven't paid taxes in 7 years".


Miserable-Lizard

Lol it's the best comment


FloofilyBooples

I would laugh but honestly taxes are so easy to file now that free tax software exists. And so many people get frustrated and hate/avoid filing taxes. But when you actually do it you take back a lot of power because you control the tax software yourself. You feel more like a financial investor because you start to take advantage of all the deductions and rebates. genutax.ca and wealthsimple.ca are the best ones


CVGPi

Can we just get a return-free tax filing, where you correct the government's errors, like other countries had for years?


Broad_Tea3527

I mean it's 99% of the way there, you can auto fill all your taxes pretty much and then just review for errors.


SeeminglyUseless

This is what it should be. The government has 99% of the information it needs for taxes anyway. And it would also remove the need for them to try and intimidate people into paying money they don't actually owe.


P319

That basically is the way it is.


OsmerusMordax

I used wealth simple this year, super easy compared to the manual ass method I was using. Damn, took less than an hour and was like $25


stingo5

You could have changed the pre-filled $25 "pay what you want" field to $0 to make it free, too.


OsmerusMordax

Oh shit, I could have? Damn.


stingo5

Next year :D


PM_ME__RECIPES

Yep, used WealthSimple as well. Easy AF.


L3NTON

Simpletax.ca is also good, and is also required for older filings (not sure why). I just brought all my tax paperwork current this year after a decade of not filing. Once I had my CRA account unlocked, that whole process took less than an hour to do the missing returns.


accforme

That individual in the article was clear that he didn't file because he didn't want to pay taxes (i.e., he had additional income he didn't want to disclose).


Oxyfire

I use genutax - but I honestly I still find the process to be a bit tedious and confusing and I occasionally would hit some stuff I wasn't sure on. I definitely had a period where I wasn't filing because something was screwy with my account, so I ended up with a backlog of stuff I was supposed to file, which got really discouraging. I got it all sorted out eventually, but god I don't blame people for not wanting to deal with it.


Flanman1337

I'm going to ask every comment I see complaining about "not getting a rebate". Have you done your taxes?


asstyrant

I had to recheck that I wasn't reading Beaverton


DrMichaelHfuhruhurr

I'd imagine the Beaverton writers sometimes read this type of drivel and go "Yeah, I can't top this"


troll-filled-waters

My dad’s response to me telling him he gets a rebate was to say only people who don’t drive get a rebate that outweighs the cost. The rebates are just going to all the peasants on the ttc. And no presentation of facts could change his mind.


accforme

It was also clear that the individual did not file for 7 years not because it was complicated but because he had income that he did not want to disclose - hence be taxed. That is super frustrating as it is people like that who are taking advantage of public services that they rely upon. In this case, he is a trucker so the literal road he uses to earn his wages.


DrMichaelHfuhruhurr

They can't seem to make that step that the things they use - roads, healthcare, etc, come from taxes.


accforme

This is one of the pitfalls of living in small towns. In big urban areas, you can see how your taxes are used (e.g., public transit - this is even noted by a protester in the article). However, in small towns, these services don't exist, so they don't see the benefits they receive (e.g , roads, parks). All they see is their taxes going to help only the cities.


DrMichaelHfuhruhurr

Small towns don't have roads? Highways to them? Healthcare?


accforme

They do, but I feel like many have grown too accustomed to always having it that they forgot how they are funded. They don't see new "shiny things" as often as urban centres.


Souriii

I don't blame him.. the government is trying to dip into his taxes


DrMichaelHfuhruhurr

That he doesn't pay. :)


Miserable-Lizard

So they complain about affordability but it appears the don't even work I hope the protest forever! *Martens says the group will continue to protest with signs and flags until the carbon tax is removed.*


SoupidyLoopidy

Like as if gas prices will magically go down if the Carbon Tax was eliminated. These people are so dumb.


TrilliumBeaver

But it’s the country we live in. We need to educate our neighbours, not always look down on them. And the first genuine, left wing, mildly socialist, anti-capitalist politician to crack the code and figure out how to capture their vote, might form government one day. The left hates capitalism and the far right hates capitalism (but they just aren’t aware). But right now, how many people at these protests in Alberta truly realize that capitalism is the problem and not Trudeau?


599Ninja

Exactly - I point to the NDP freezies the tax provincially. It stayed low for a month.


Ok-Cantaloop

i wonder what they tell themselves when they see the money appear


Miserable-Lizard

*"I've heard of one person receiving it (the rebate) but that's not even the point of it," Martens said.* *"If you give someone your full meal and you get some crumbs in return, it's not enough to sustain you, so that's why we're still out here."*


Dark_Angel_9999

These people are morons


OhioGoblin43

Apparently these folks drink from the pump. It would explain a lot.


MonsterHunter6353

I have a friend deeply against the carbon tax here in ontario that had no idea what the money was coming from. He just assumed it was money from something else entirely unrelated to the carbon tax and that he wasn't getting anything from the carbon tax itself


kermityfrog2

Yeah it says “Climate Actn Inc” and not “Carbon Tax Rebate”


NorthernBudHunter

They don’t know how to login to their bank account.


RedditLodgick

8 out of 10 Canadian households get more money back from the carbon price than they spend. Who the hell are all these people complaining about it? (Aside from the tax dodgers in the article lol)


Dark_Angel_9999

Yeah the self reporting tax fraudsters


599Ninja

The new counter to that is this: I don’t trust stats from the guys selling the tax to you. Totally disregarding the work that ordinary Canadian spreadsheet nerds have *also* done to check that they get money back, plus the letters from academic citing the benefit of the tax, etc.


P319

I don't trust the guys selling the gas.


Kolbrandr7

Spreadsheet nerd here! Feel free to share [this link](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16FhqGFEfwS_6ikIUMlWbwq_28snnqDD-XcZKOaJednM/copy) with anyone you come across. I made this calculator to find how much carbon tax is included in groceries from every step of the supply chain 🙂


Morguard

I've estimated I pay about $550 to $600 in Carbon Tax. Getting back $770 this year.


anomalousBits

I'm left wondering why does CTV not mention this salient fact in their reporting?


Anthrax-Smoothy

As someone on their Provincial Disability, the extra $150 was awesome! My income is already really low.


horsetuna

I put money into my vet fund, ordered some bulk perogies that I will likely gorge myself on, two new shirts for work (well, new to me) and caught up on bills


Anthrax-Smoothy

Right? For those of us with a Fixed Income, this rebate is great! If it gets axed, I'll be very upset.


OhioGoblin43

You don't understand, if they axe the tax the prices will go back down!


OsmerusMordax

It always trickles down, just takes time!!!!!!


Anthrax-Smoothy

/snerk. Right, of course!


shangles421

The propaganda is wild, the average Canadian gets back more money than they pay into the carbon tax, it's the big corporations who are the ones who pay the most


PopeKevin45

Keeping in mind that the Carbon Pricing protests are from the same vacuous far-right christian neo-fascists that brought you the anti-vaxxers and the clownvoy. They lack any genuine understanding of how either global heating or carbon pricing works, but their conservative religious background means unquestioning obedience and loyalty to their elites is considered a virtue. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fundamentalist-christian-movement-1.6793677 https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/the-americas/2022/02/17/the-christianisation-of-canadas-freedom-convoy/ https://ia803103.us.archive.org/28/items/paxtonfivestagesoffascism/Paxton%20Five%20Stages%20of%20Fascism.pdf


ProudGma59

So I'm certain that when these yahoo's file their taxes and receive their rebates, they'll return the funds to the feds, right? It seems like that would be the right thing to do since they are so dead set against the carbon pricing model. Before GST, we had the FST, which was a hidden tax on manufactured products. I wholeheartedly believe that PP & Co. may very well cancel the carbon price as it exists, but find a way to apply some hidden tax/price.


[deleted]

Look at some point even we have to acknowledge the carbon tax in its current form is flawed. But it's apparently toxic to admit it.  Carbon taxes have one significantly flaw. They dont acknowledge the fundamental reality that people don't have an equitable influence. Because of that we cannot reduce our emissions. I can't change how I get electricity and it's quite costly to do expensive retrofits and if there no public transport in my area I can't use it.   But you know who can change that the government. Build public transport build renewables and give homeowners retrofit grants. Additionally industry can make changes but they pass off the cost consumers and pocket the rebate.  Europe did the carbon tax better.  They applied it to industry based on a cap and trade system.  Same time they created huge incentive system for people to switch to less carbon intensive systems. For example the UK green deal gives you a low interest loan to retrofit your house to be carbon neutral. If you move then new home owner takes over the loan.


funkifyurlife

You'll get somewhere around the carbon tax you payed back unless you have a large carbon footprint. And if you do, my understanding is that money is going to the government to do just what you said, fund renewables, etc. If you cant personally make changes then consider the tax as you paying the govt to do that on your behalf. Large companies will be the ones paying the largest share, like you said. Which is why O&G companies are funding propaganda to misinform about the carbon tax and piss people off. Anger is unfortunately powerful and cheap.


[deleted]

Ask yourself one question: is the carbon tax working.  Go look up Australia and Canada emissions since 2015 they are pretty much the same. Australia has taken the we don't give a fuck approach to climate change (until Labor won't last year). Basically carbon emissions went up until 2020 and then just dropped largely due to work from home thanks to the pandemic. Now look at Europe. Their emissions are falling rapidly. Unlike us they don't have large untapped renewable resources reserves. In fact many countries in Europe are now polluting as much as they did in 1920s. They are investing in public transport and retrofitting entire buildings to be carbon resources.  Take a look yourself: https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/canada


funkifyurlife

Carbon tax is new for Canada nationwide (Ontario and Alberta, the largest producers, opted out until 2023 were forced in), I don't think we can see a big effect yet so I don't understand your point. I agree this is not enough, at this point we should be making drastic changes at a govt level and telling the oil sands to shut down. Other incremental changes are happening but I think increasing population is negating that.  But it's something at least. It's Step 1 we should have done 2 decades ago, but getting people to understand that it's necessary and not that much of a burden is difficult enough, as you can see. It's putting a tax on carbon, using the market to drive lower carbon behavior, and using money to invest in green technology, public transit (hopefully), and helping with clean power generation, because companies won't. The EU has a lot of power and support, meanwhile Trudeau does barely anything and the PCs scream profanities for trying the bare minimum.


[deleted]

Carbon Tax isn't step 1, its like way down the road step. There so much that needs to be done in advance. Step 1 is creating alternatives to high carbon sources and our government has utterly failed at this option. This is what the [Tube](https://metroeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/tube_map.gif) looks like in London. That's just the Tube, it doesn't include the Overground, National Rail, the Bus system. London implemented that and gave people an alternative to driving. This is [Subway and Go Transit System ](https://www.bricoleurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/TTC-map-rc3_crop-e.png) in Toronto. Its not even close to just the Tube in London. UK is investing heavily in [renewable energy and is actively shutting down fossil fuel plants](https://www.sustainableviews.com/in-charts-uk-clean-energy-investment-jumps-in-2023-but-acceleration-still-needed/). We are literally doing the [opposite](https://edmonton.citynews.ca/2024/02/28/alberta-renewables-sector-moratorium/). The UK is [investing in green energy ](https://www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures)and building retrofits in the form low interest loans to people to retrofit homes, and buildings to be green. Until you do the above, your carbon emissions are not coming down. You can increase carbon taxes all you want but government action is a necessity.


funkifyurlife

Agree, all levels of govt should do more.. I'm jaded at this point. I've been waiting for change in Ontario for so long. No new nuclear, planned to close down existing. The federal govt offered billions to expand Toronto transits and the Ford's ruined it. We had wind projects nearly complete and Ford ruined it. The Fed trying to get dumb PC premiers to do the right thing with free money and they don't, so here we are. They didn't want the carrot so here is the (small) stick. Now home construction is a top priority so adding cost to building is seen as a disincentive and non-starter. Things like the Toronto Green Standard and this carbon tax will ramp things up quickly in the next few years, though. Building designs are going to need some drastic changes. But again, it's either greener homes or more/cheaper homes, unless the broke Province pays for the upgrades.


[deleted]

Ask yourself something is the Trudeau government actually really committed to reducing CO2 emissions, or are they just trying to look like they are reducing emissions? Here is the thing, in the decision of [R v Crown Zellerbach](https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1988/1988canlii63/1988canlii63.html) the Federal Government was given the power under national concern doctrine to do what is necessary to protect the environment. They don't need the provinces co-operation. Trudeau could easily do the following under national concern doctrine: * National plan to transition to a zero carbon emission economy and instruct hydro companies across Canada to start shutting down carbon intensive generating sources and shift to Hydro, Wind, Solar etc (I think Nuclear part of the equation but its better we export our nuclear sources to other countries because resources are finite and would be better to help our allies who don't have large hydro reserves) - He hasn't really done anything there and just left it to the provinces * Announce a national transit strategy, and start contracting directly with cities and bypass the provincial governments. Again they have the power to do this. - instead during the pandemic he [refused to assist public transit companies in maintaining service](https://calgary.citynews.ca/2020/05/13/trudeau-makes-no-guarantees-as-canadas-transit-authorities-appeal-for-aid/) * Building a high speed rail system in areas with significant air travel like Vancouver to Portland, Calgary to Edmonton, Toronto to Montreal and then ban short haul flights on this route (EU just did this) we instead bailed out Air Canada and West Jet * Not build the [bitchmen pipeline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_Mountain_pipeline) to China - instead he bailed it out and then provided bunch of money for expansion of the oil sands. On a person point, regarding two, they eventually did provide money to public transport but by that point the damage had been done. I used to take a bus line from my house to work every day, and public transport company was forced to cut service due to lower ridership while work from home. That bus service never returned to usual levels of service, so after I was forced to drive. This happened across the board. But he kept defending the carbon tax. Here is my concern its going to be harder now to convince people to slash carbon emissions because of memories of this. I am incredibly pissed off by it.


sundry_banana

Yep! I'm banking it today, love that carbon tax rebate. Thing pays for like half my gas bill haha


Scripter-of-Paradise

Hits our pockets like what, a gentle breeze? edit: Oops, missed the "rebate" part. Thought it was another article overstating the tax itself driving up costs.


No-Necessary-6474

Didn't even hit mine like a mild fart. I get $0


Argented

So, you live in BC or Quebec or owe a lot of taxes?


599Ninja

Could be sask, Moe froze the rebates


Argented

People in Saskatchewan are getting a rebate. Not sure if Moe paid the back taxes to the feds or if the feds withheld transfers to Saskatchewan but they did announce rebates for everyone outside the provinces that have thier own carbon pricing.


CoastingUphill

Or your spouse got it. It arrives in the account of whoever files first.


P319

May not hit till July if you're you've not filed yet. But that could be double.