Most people have probably heard the old platitude about the only sure things in life being death and taxes. And, of course, that's a reasonably accurate assumption. We are all mortal, and, unless one lives alone in some strange kind of wilderness, taxes of various types are a necessity for any organized society. There are more and less desirable types of taxes, but taxes as such are not evil.
But for several decades now, voters have bought into the assumption that taxes should be cut and cut, and cut again, leaving governments with less and less for necessary functions and even less for any not immediately pressing issues, such as better education for all, environmental concerns, degenerating infrastructures, the widening gap between the very rich and the rest of us, and a host of other issues of present and future concern.
Unfortunately, one result of these cuts in taxation has been the drastic reduction of taxes (from 37 per cent to 15 per cent of profits) from large corporations in the last three decades, resulting in a loss of over $30 billion annually, while the share of taxes paid by personal income taxes has risen from 30 per cent to 50 per cent, even though many may not be paying any more. Fairness becomes a factor.
Naturally, the declining revenue to governments has led to cutting funding (often not spending even all of the amounts allocated) to many government functions, especially those dedicated to health, education and general welfare of the public. The rationale for such cuts to services is the perceived need to balance the budget.
I'm waiting to see how the present Liberal government will handle the budget issue. There are basically only two ways: raising revenue or cutting services.
Russell Lahti
Battleford
