The Canadian Government Hard At Work

 Last post I made the comment that Canadian politics is just banging our heads against the wall every 4 years or so voting for assholes who promise us the same things we've wanted forever and don't do any of them. Voting in our elections is the very definition of insanity I'm sure Einstein would agree. 

Today I want to give you a very good illustration of how that plays out in the day-to-day life of a lowly citizen. My story is about taxes. Yes, we not only vote for insanity, we finance it, but it's every year and there's no democratic choice whether to pay taxes or not. They are mandatory and they are steep. Here's an article from one of the few semi-trustworthy agencies that will tell you what Canadians pay in taxes - The Fraser Institute. They say 45% in the article but they don't get into the hidden taxes. If you want to read about THOSE, here's a link to the Fraser Institute report from 1976 in which they calculate the regular AND hidden taxes Canadians paid back then. Their figure was well over 50% and you can bet your bottom tax dollar it has only gone up since then. And if you have a lot of spare time, here are a few of my previous blog posts that clearly illustrate how I feel about Canadian taxation, government services, and the dereliction of duty among Canadian citizens that has led to the corruption of what used to be a better country. MY figure of Canadian taxation is 100%.

But if you're like me, and there are more and more Canadians like me in this respect, you work an 18-dollar-an-hour job that used to be 38 dollars an hour, or you work a 40-dollar-an-hour job PART TIME. The first type of job is what our government calls "job creation." They take one job that pays a wage enough to have happiness and dignity in Canada and make it two or three jobs that keep their owners unhappy and undignified. There is probably overtime available but it is taxed heavily and the employer probably made you sign an averaging agreement. They are ubiquitous even though they should be illegal.

The second job is the result of the politicians' claims of job creation too. Take one full-time job and make it two or more part-time jobs. Very popular with employers who don't have to pay benefits to part-time workers. Again, should be illegal but it's happening all over Canada. 

These are the only jobs I can find in Canada and they are why I have such a hard time staying there. The past 10 years or so I spent mostly overseas. I recently filed my taxes for those years. 2013-2023. The nice thing about working overseas or one of the shyte jobs described above is that in April or May (or when you get back to Canada) you get some of the tax money you've paid throughout the fiscal year returned to you by the government. Usually. 

I went to H&R Block and was told how much money I'd receive for those tax years and it was a nice number! Here's me walking out of the H&R Block office:

I should have known better.

It was decreed by whoever decides these things in the tax offices of Canada that my taxes needed to be audited. The following is a letter describing the mishandling of or possibly the fraudulent pretenses of my government's harassment-slash-audit:

Audit TB2408 2233 8424

My name is David MacCannell. SIN 123456789. I have been working overseas for about 9 of the last 11 years and have been back in North America for about a year and a half. I did my taxes for most of that time in early 2024.

On May 23, 2024 it was decreed that my tax returns for the years up to 2023 be audited. The audit letter is attached.  

The message was made clear in the letter that money (close to 3000 dollars I think) was being withheld until I provided some information that the Tax Centre was unable to find on its own. What was not made clear was the exact information they were after. Somehow after searching the internet and coming up with several dead end phone numbers and websites I found the number 1-873 355 5541. I actually got through to a person and she told me what was required. She said that I did not need to give all the foreign addresses where I had been living during the time of the several years of tax returns I had filed, just where I had lived in Canada since my return in Feb. of 2023. She also said I could just go to the website, click on "submit files" and it would be easy.

I went to the website and it was nothing but an endless loop between the original page and the "submit files" page. So I called her back and left a message that things had not been so easy. It was not answered. I left one more and it too was ignored so on June 4, 2024 I texted the information - photos of two documents that I had filled out - to the number. I then left another message telling her I had texted the documents to her and if this was not good enough would she please provide a number I could text documents to or an email address I could email the dox to. Eventually she got back to me and told me the text was not good enough, there were no phone numbers through which dox could be texted and there were no email addresses through which the dox could be emailed. She said I would have to FAX the documents. 

So, I went to the local Staples and faxed the documents on June 21, 2024, long before the deadline stated in the audit letter. A photo of the fax confirmation is also attached to this email. 

On July 5 (4 days before the stated deadline) I received a letter stating that I had not sent the documents that I had sent and that my account would be updated. I also attach that document (appropriately labeled) to this email.

I am now beginning to see what was meant by the "updating of my account" and the results of the superfluous recalculation of my taxes that I filed this year. Incidentally, I filed with H&R Block this year and believe that the agent who did my taxes (photo attached) was given all the information the Winnipeg Tax Centre tasked me to re-provide. She probably still has it on file. I even brought the T-4's in with all of the addresses I was ordered to re-submit. 

I have recently started receiving letters from Bob Hamilton (or a representative of his) telling me that my entitlements for the various years have been reduced due to the "update to the information." One example of a $580 reduction is attached. I have others of 612, 272, 299, etc. My income tax return has been reduced by over $2000 because somebody either did not receive a fax I sent, or has made a mistake. I don't even want to imply that someone in my government might be intentionally shorting taxpayers for personal gain, but it is a possibility that needs to be investigated here, don't you think? Ombudsmen/women? 

Seriously, how many Canadians have the time to go through the tedious, time-consuming, frustrating labours that I have? Most taxpayers who receive rebates erroneously think it's free money that they haven't earned, so they don't even bother if their entitlement is not what they were promised by H&R Block or whoever. The scamsters in our tax system (if they exist) depend on such inaction. It would be the perfect swindle if it doesn't yet exist, wouldn't you say? 

I'm not interested in playing the blame game, I just want the money I was expecting. I will also attach photos of the pages that somebody told somebody else they did not receive. Please accept them even though the information 1. is well known to the federal government agency that issued my T-4's, 2. could have easily been retrieved from the H&R Block representative, 3. could have easily been relayed over the phone to the agent I was able to reach at that number I gave above, 4. SHOULD have been VERY easily submitted via modern technology like text or email. What year is it? NObody faxes any more! 

If for any reason it is decided that I should not receive the rightful amount of my tax rebates that have been withheld, at least use the money to buy some smartphones so people can text stuff to you! 

Thank you for your time and patience if you have read this entire letter.

I'm not going to include the information the Winnipeg Tax Centre pretended to require of me that I obediently texted AND faxed to them. I will also not include the card and tax dox of the H&R Block worker who did my taxes. She is the only one who has as yet replied. She told me she will look into the matter and help in any way she can. Here is an example of the letters I received outlining the "adjustments" to my account that resulted from the Winnipeg Tax Centre being unable to accept either texts or faxes, (or having received them and ignoring them). I wonder if there is some method of personal gain here. Like could some WTC worker take the money being withheld in order to coerce me into sending the information they DEFINITELY already had or had access to? 

It's a possibility that needs to be looked into. So I sent this letter and all the documents in an email to Bob Hamilton the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, his assistant Johanne Mongeon, I cced Fancois Boileau the taxpayer's ombudsman and his assistant Charlene Rousseau. I also forwarded it to the lady who did my taxes. As I say the H&R Block gal immediately sent a supportive reply. So far all I have received from any of the government workers/offices has been a form letter from Charlene Rousseau which included: Questions for the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson? Mr. Boileau has dedicated and qualified staff tasked with handling complaints from Canadians. We encourage you to visit our website and fill out our complaint form at canada.ca/oto-submit-complaint, and one of our officer will be in touch with you as soon as possible.

Essentially, we received your email. We didn't read it even though it has all the information we could possibly need to help you. We would like you to submit the exact same information to our government website. 

Scroll up to the first time I was referred to a government website and told it is "easy to use." It was an infinite loop that was useless. Government websites are purposely designed like that in Canada. I will probably run into a few of the more common problems that make them dead ends. "Submit your complaint here and we'll get back to you." Months later you're lucky if they gotten back to you. I'm in the midst of that with my phone company Koodo right now. All phone/cable companies in Canada make it impossible to cancel! SUPER easy to sign up but go back to where you signed up and they'll refer you to some phone number or website where you can start the never-ending gymnastics. Who has the time or patience? Nobody! They count on that! 

Or maybe I won't be able to submit my files in their current forms. Or maybe I'll check all the boxes and fill out all the information and upload all the files and click "send" and nothing will happen. I already sent a similar email to the Winnipeg Tax Office at the email on their site labelled "Revenue Canada Assessment and Taxation Assistance." A girl named Tiffany or something sent a form letter back that said I need to contact the federal government. I sent a response stating that we've pinpointed the problem and it's in Winnipeg where you are. Why would we lengthen and complicate the process by talking to Ottawa? She shot back a letter saying that the Winnipeg Tax Office is not affiliated with Revenue Canada and her office only deals with assessment and business taxation, not personal taxation. THEN WHY THE FUCK WAS THE EMAIL LABELLED "REVENUE CANADA TAXATION ASSISTANCE?" So now what am I doing? I'm contacting the federal government because THEY need to contact the Winnipeg Tax Office and give them the exact same information I have already given them. Oh Canada!

In the end I probably won't get that 3 grand they held hostage to subject me to this Canadian tech torture. I may even be ordered to pay more. But in case you have ever seen one of the many sites that say Canada is a great place to live and Canadians are deliriously happy all the time with our good wages and free health care DON'T FALL FOR THAT SHIT! That's the old Canada. The webpage was sponsored by the NEW Canada trying to suck you into the black hole of corruption and taxation hell that it has become.