A $400 check for the wealthy, too outrageous

Paying a $400 election bonus to someone who makes up to $127,000 in gross income in 2021 is outrageous!

Worse still: The $800 promotional prize was paid to the couple who each won $127,000, or a total of nothing less than $254,000.

In my opinion, the government of François Legault directly squandered public funds by undertaking during the last election campaign to pay these “wealthy” taxpayers a new one-time amount of 400 dollars for the cost of living. This amount will soon be paid by Revenu Québec as a refundable tax credit.

Why am I talking about a total income of 127,000 dollars when Francois Legault and his caquist deputies are referring to an income of 100,000 dollars when this prize is 400 dollars?

The $100,000 in question relates to the taxpayer’s NET income, i.e., deductions for RRSPs, registered pension plans, Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) and Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), exploration expenses (flow-through shares), finance and interest expenses, deduction for workers etc.

However, at $127,000 in gross income, for example, a taxpayer who contributes the maximum to his RRSP would benefit from a $22,860 deduction, $3,428 in QPP contributions, $412 in QPIP contributions, and $1,205 for a worker. This would have the effect of reducing his net income to $99,095, which net income would allow him to qualify for the $400 prize.

Plus the previous $500

I remind you that “affluent” taxpayers with gross incomes up to $127,000 are also eligible for the previous $500 amount granted to taxpayers by the Legault government last spring to offset increases in the cost of living.

In total, therefore, the Legault government this year paid out $900 as an anti-inflationary gift to taxpayers whose total income reaches $127,000. And, remember that in the case of a couple earning $127,000 each (or a total of $254,000), the gift amount is $1,800.

Caquist error

The François Legault government requires taxpayers earning a maximum net income of $65,000 to have limited access to these one-time cost of living compensation amounts.

Obviously, it would be economically and socially wiser to redistribute the roughly $800 million that the François Legault government granted to people with net incomes above $65,000 to the less fortunate.

Instead of paying taxpayers with net incomes of $50,000 or less $1,100 ($500 last spring and $600 in December), the government could have granted them an additional $200.

payment

Revenu Québec will soon send $600 to taxpayers with net incomes of less than $50,000 and $400 to taxpayers with net incomes of $50,000 to $100,000.

You must have filed your 2021 tax return to access it. Those who haven’t filed their 2021 returns can do so until June 30, 2023!