What is all this talk about UBI? universal basic income in Canada? Cmon people!! We ALREADY HAVE IT!!!!!! Here are the facts!!!! For those 65 years or older we have the GIS - guaranteed income supplement PLUS old age security plus pension income splitting tax credits plus (contd)

an age tax credit.. so for those 65 years or older we LITERALLY have Guaranteed Income Supplement, it already exists..next fact: For working Canadians, we have a tax credit called "Canada Workers Benefit".. this is a tax credit which effectively offsets any income tax

on the first 20k of employment income for low income people. the first 14k of income is already tax-free, so it eliminates income tax up to 20k.. next fact: GST credits - federal govt spends $5B per year on gst credit transfers directly to low-income individuals, tax-free

all the provinces to the same thing as well (except alberta which doesnt have a sales tax)... so low-income individuals aren't paying any income tax or they are paying very minimal tax but getting more back in their GST credits and provincial sales tax credits..

next: families with children - this is a biggie.. Canada Child Benefits - federal govt spends $25B per year and provinces add to it.. ITS INSANE.. tax-free... I see some families' tax returns that when you take into account the tax-free Canada Child Benefits they receive, their

their overall tax bill, effective actual family tax rate they pay is less than 15%, sometimes its literally ZERO and sometimes they actually profit from the tax system, they make more money in Child Benefits tax-free than they pay in income tax throughout the year..

I discuss this all in my book The Grumpy Accountant https://www.amazon.ca/Grumpy-Accountant-Practical-Senselessly-Complicated/dp/1777226406/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3JRQWK5L3Y37F&dchild=1&keywords=the+grumpy+accountant&qid=1617895827&sprefix=the+grumpy+acc%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1 Canada's governments have permanent structural budget deficits (even pre-covid) because of this overly generous completely inefficient insanity

I see this daily as a tax accountant - people realize they are better off not working, or working a lot less, because they show less income, pay less tax + receive more tax-free canada child benefits, it's a win-win for them but lose-lose for government revenue.. this is why I

I would urge everyone to look at these facts and understand we already have UBI in Canada, we just dont call it that.. we call it GST credits, canada child benefits, old age security, and guaranteed income supplement, that all adds up to $80B per year of federal govt spending.

it's completely insane and needs to be reformed... the incentives are out of whack... we are already spending so much $ on direct transfers to individuals, we simply cannot afford more.. and many people are leaving money in their corporations, have maxed out RRSPs and TFSAs, and

continue to receive massive amounts of tax-free Canada Child Benefits.. you can have $1,000,000 in your RRSP and $1,000,000 in your TFSA and still receive Canada Child Benefits and receive RESP matching grants in your RESP.. this madness has to end.. Canada has become a

a nanny-welfare state to the max and the government's budgets (if the fed govt would ever release a budget which they haven't for 2 years to their great shame) reflect that... Canadians need to wake up and realize government solutions are simply not the answer to every problem

in society.. please join me in my movement to simplify the tax system and restore fiscal sanity to Canada.. check out http://www.grumpyaccountant.ca 

Also, the government's response to covid reflects this, instead of simply allowing everything to remain open and recommend people wear masks and socially distance, they shut us down! stay home, government acting like a strict parent treating adult citizens as if they were

little children! but when Canadians act like children relying on government for everything, then the government will act in kind as the parent.. CERB = your allowance.. Stay-at-home orders = you're grounded! curfew = curfew.. like we are little kids.. it's ridiculous..

and our tax system reflects this micro-management as well. over 120 tax credits and deductions riddle our tax system with nightmares and horrors.. every life event has a tax credit.. completely insane