Bad Budget: Poorly Thought Out Tax Increases

There is two thing that constantly gets hit when governments look to “increase revenue”

1/ Raise the Gas Tax

This is guaranteed to mainly strike at the low income earners. Gas increases will lead to food price increases, more workers will find it harder to make it to work, disposable income will decrease putting even more workers out of work and this is a never ending cycle of loss. Raising the gas tax is almost always guaranteed to end up with a net loss in revenue when balanced across the entire spectrum.

 

2/ Raise Tobacco Tax

This has always been one of my favourite world’s dumbest moves. Any and all increases to Tobacco tax leads to a reduction in the consumption of Legal tobacco products and an increase in illegal cigarettes.

This was a lesson I had thought was learned when I was much younger when the government realized that well over 3/4 of the tobacco products sold at the time were illegal and that tobacco tax revenues were at an all time low, with almost no actual reduction in the number of smokers.

Each time tobacco taxes are raised the anti-smoking groups constantly harp that it is a good thing and it reduces smoking but this is not correct. It only serves to drive tobacco sales underground.

Many years ago during prohibition there was a lesson that was supposed to be learned by the governments of the day. Unfortunately it really does appear that the lesson has been lost on successive governments who constantly feel that tobacco is the appropriate spot to earn “increased revenue”

 

What was a repeated vocal talking point from many people during consultations was repealing the corporate tax increases.  This budget did nothing but prove that the government was not really listening because what they did was prove that once again the tax cuts will be allowed to run their course to the liberal determined end point in July.