Open letter

[mousme]

Dear government asshats,

Please stop sending me letters telling me you've "revised" my tax claim for last year and demanding more money. Seriously, this is the third time this year I've had to cut you a damned cheque, and I'm getting a little tired of it. The horse is dead (and broke), so please stop beating it. How many times in one year can you harp on a teeny tiny thing like my poor, insignificant T4? Really. How many? Is it a little challenge you've issued to your department? "Hey, let's see if we can drive this random taxpayer around the bend! First one to make her crack gets a Christmas bonus!"

Where the hell is the vaunted tax break you promised? Oh, right. I'm not allowed a tax break because I'm not a wealthy landowner.

Well, fuck you too.

No love,

Me

Comments

[elanya.livejournal.com]

Oh we hates them, we hates them *SO HARD*!

Taxation is theft.

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

All "public servants" in government come to believe that all money is government's and what you earn is really something that they've allowed you to take from them out of the goodness of their hearts.

Re: Taxation is theft.

[ai731.livejournal.com]

Holy sweeping generalization, Batman!

Re: Taxation is theft. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

[(Anonymous)]

Theft is the act of taking wealth by force or fraud. Taxation fits the definition.

Re: Taxation is theft. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

That was me.

Re: Taxation is theft. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

[mousme.livejournal.com]

I was raised to be a good little socialist, so I have no problem with taxation per se, as long as the process is transparent and I can see exactly where my money is going. I also have a fairly strong sense of what's equitable, and the fact that our current government keeps coming back for more on my measly little paycheque is more than a little aggravating. There are many, many people in this country who can better afford to have their accound "revised" three times a year.

I sent in my tax statement like a good little citizen back in March. My taxes are *not* complicated. I get one paycheque once a week, always from the same source. My taxes are *already* withheld at source, and yet the freaking government doesn't seem to think that that's enough.

Grah! I am seriously unamused by this.

Re: Taxation is theft. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

Even if you put a thief above the law, by giving him a "tax collector's" hat it shouldn't be surprising that he still chooses to prey upon those least able to defend themselves.

Re: Taxation is theft.

[ladyiolanthe.livejournal.com]

Um, no we don't. I'm a public servant, thank you very much. And I, when doing anything for Parks Canada that has to do with money, always try to keep costs as low as possible. I shop for the government the way I would shop for myself.

I am a public servant, and I get audited by Revenue Canada too.

Re: Taxation is theft.

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

Maybe. But then, you're probably not in the position to be procuring the really big pork, either. Also, being in the political sphere, you have no effective feedback on how well your "customers" are being served, since they cannot shop at some competitor government without having to uproot their households.

Re: Taxation is theft.

[ladyiolanthe.livejournal.com]

you have no effective feedback on how well your "customers" are being served

Uh, yes, we do. They are called "surveys" and are conducted on a fairly regular basis. In my branch of the government we also have more immediate feedback because we are in a service sector, and we offer our clients the opportunity to provide feedback - positive or negative, and we are committed to responding to the negative feedback especially with action and the person who made the complaint is informed about what we did to address their complaint in writing.

Also, I'm in the public service, not the political sphere. The public service was established as a separate, impartial entity from the politicians. We serve the public, not the politicians.

Re: Taxation is theft.

[ladyiolanthe.livejournal.com]

P.S. If you feel that you need to respond to me again, please do so by leaving a comment in my lj, as I don't wish to clog up mousme's with our off-topic conversation.

Re: Taxation is theft.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

No worries. It was an interesting debate to read. :)

Nah, it's okay.

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

We're just going to disagree about the nature of the political and social spheres. Ms. mousme asked some questions, some of them rhetorical, no doubt. I just felt like giving her some answers from my understanding of the world. I wouldn't expect many Canadians to agree with me.

[pasley.livejournal.com]

"Now my advice for those who die:/Declare the pennies on your eyes."
~Taxman, The Beatles

Ain't it the truth.

Sorry to hear about your tax woes.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

It's not a huge amount by anyone's standards except my own (especially now that I have no job). What I'm annoyed about is that I sent my tax return on time, and I have everything taken off *at source* and yet the government *still* thinks I owe them money.

I don't do my taxes myself. I can't understand how they can possibly think I still owe them money this late in the game!

[alcinoe.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the Canadian tax people are as bad as the American tax people. I got the same sort of notice and I just don't have the money, so I am going to stretch this out as long as possible before making some sort of payment arrangement. Still don't know how we are going to do it though.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Gah. I'm sorry to hear that. This latest amount isn't huge. I mean, my paycheques are so measly to begin with that they can't possibly charge me more than I earn in a given year. That would be silly.

I'd love to have a government (for once) that doesn't punish people for being poor.

Working on it.

[ashforestwalker.livejournal.com]

Its not the first thing I'll do but its in the top ten.

HRH.

[ladyiolanthe.livejournal.com]

mousme, sorry I didn't find this earlier. Perhaps you have already tried contacting Revenue Canada about your situation (which seems odd to me), but if not, there are phone numbers listed here that you could call to ask for an explanation:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/contact/phone-e.html

It is possible that Revenue Canada has made some sort of error.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Oh, there were errors made. Sadly, none of them were in my favour. Something about one of my T4s was submitted wrong, so I've been paying for it ever since.

What wasn't clear in my little rant is that I've received notices both from the Federal *and* the Provincial Revenue Services. So while I've paid over and over again for this stupid mistake (the accountant I used has already received a displeased phone call), it's been to both governments.

This last notice should clear the books on all that. I hope.

Thanks for the link!