Harper would double child fitness tax credit

Oh wow! going to run right out and renew my membership at the gym. Or maybe I will take the $20 bucks and put it towards gas for the Van.

Or pick up some beer and popcorn.

This stuff is insane. We don't need more deductions in the tax system. It' just another bribe to middle class voters.

If he's looking to bribe the middle class voter, tax cuts work better than tax credits.

The tax cut to equal this program would be very small. And he'd have to cut the lowest tax bracket (can't justify just cutting the higher ones) so those scummy working poor would get some of the benefit, even tho they don't vote for him. Plus it would go to individuals not families.

If he wants to target children, just raise the child tax credit, let parents decide how to spend the money.

I don't like the concept of the child tax credit at all. There is no incentive aside from their own intelligence and good parenting skills for a parent to raise a child properly... And we all know how many parents out there actually display intelligence and good parenting skills. Tax credits for encouraging good child development on the other hand, would encourage parents who otherwise have no incentive to properly raise a child, to raise their child properly. And it would cover the costs of the hockey gear.

My brother in law is meeting Harper today regarding this. He owns a gym.

Cool, fill us in please.

Damn it!!! I read, "He owns a ."

You're really going to try to micromanage parents? These sorts of tax inducements only help the middle class. Poor working people don't have the money required to put into a sport like say hockey. So it just reaches people who would do this anyway. Nobody is going to do this just for a $500 or $1000 tax deduction.

The idea with a child credit is that it takes away some of the burden of raising children - let's parents best allocate how they choose to spend it. But even better is just a child bonus, like the one the govt now gives. You want to make it easier to have kids, just up that amount. It will help poor people most of all. I personally don't really agree with any of it, I'm not for stimulating breeding. But if you're going to do it, that's the way.

The Globe just calculated that these sorts of deductions total 27 billion dollars in lost tax revenue. Most of them go to the middle class, as I said, they don't really help the poor. And, they unnecessarily complicate the tax system. We should be getting rid of loop holes, not adding to them. Fund programs that really are required, like education, health, child care etc directly. Leave as much money in people's pockets as possible otherwise to make their own spending decisions.

You're really going to try to micromanage parents? These sorts of tax inducements only help the middle class. Poor working people don't have the money required to put into a sport like say hockey. So it just reaches people who would do this anyway. Nobody is going to do this just for a $500 or $1000 tax deduction.

The idea with a child credit is that it takes away some of the burden of raising children - let's parents best allocate how they choose to spend it. But even better is just a child bonus, like the one the govt now gives. You want to make it easier to have kids, just up that amount. It will help poor people most of all. I personally don't really agree with any of it, I'm not for stimulating breeding. But if you're going to do it, that's the way.

The Globe just calculated that these sorts of deductions total 27 billion dollars in lost tax revenue. Most of them go to the middle class, as I said, they don't really help the poor. And, they unnecessarily complicate the tax system. We should be getting rid of loop holes, not adding to them. Fund programs that really are required, like education, health, child care etc directly. Leave as much money in people's pockets as possible otherwise to make their own spending decisions.

How is it micromanaging parents to give tax credits for certain initiatives? It's not required you put your kid into a sport, but you do it if you want a tax credit. the way it currently is, with the child tax credit broke as fuck parents such as my mother use the credit for shit like tobacco and alcohol, not for the benefit of their child, which was the intent of the credit.

And you don't need to spend a thousand bucks on hockey gear for your kid to play a sport. if they join the track team or play something like soccer, the most your buying is a pair of shoes or cleats, and maybe shin pads.

Second part - you have to spend the money to get a credit, that's how it works. You spend $1000, you get to deduct that from your taxes. Depending on your tax situation otherwise, you save between 0 (if you were already not going to be paying any tax) to $290 (if the sports expenditure puts you over $128,800 taxable income) back. Get it?

As for your mom buying tobacco and alcohol, I bet she buys that anyway. Maybe if she had some more money in her pocket, she might buy your siblings (you?) some better food, who knows. I would have no problem giving parents food vouchers instead of cash for their children. The really low ones will still trade those for booze and cigs, but those kids will just as likely be removed at some point anyway.

I'm okay with this.

Kids gymnastics (as an example) costs $140/mo. If you make lets say $12/hr (which is average here) how are you going to afford that? Tax credit or not?