Paying their share

Re: Ire over being branded a tax cheat. John ivison, Aug. 30 In a recent column, John Ivison cited a letter that Jennifer Chan, a physician in Winnipeg, wrote to Minister Bennett stating, “I am now indignant at being painted as a tax cheat.” I agree with Dr. Chan: she is not a tax cheat. She and many other doctors have stayed entirely within the law by using private corporations to claim lower tax rates or to defer payment of taxes.

This is a special privilege that has been written into tax law, which small business owners — including doctors — have used, but which is not available to most Canadians. The federal government is proposing to eliminate this special privilege. They have frequently described this as “closing a loophole,” which Dr. Chan may have i nterpreted as an accusation of her doing something unsavory. I would encourage her and doctors across the country to consider that they have done nothing wrong in taking advantage of the privileges afforded to them thus far — and that it is time to give up those privileges and join other taxpayers on a level playing field.

The balance of Ivison’s article presents reasons why small business owners might ask for special privileges. Let’s leave aside accusation of people cheating the tax system and stick to answering that question: Should business owners get special discounted tax rates for the risks they take? I suspect that most Canadians would answer no. Business owners get financial rewards if their business succeeds, but should still pay the same tax rate as everyone else.