Richard Swift - The Great Revenue Robbery: How to Stop the Tax Cut Scam and Save Canada

Praise for

THE GREAT REVENUE ROBBERY

The Great Revenue Robbery is a rallying cry for a just society. Special-interest lobbying has hollowed out the tax system. Corporations and wealthy elites have shifted their wealth and income to tax havens, and the mainstream media have polluted democratic politics with a trenchantly anti-tax agenda. This book explores this attack on tax and identifies potential progressive counterattacks, for example through financial transaction taxes, environmental taxes, and tackling tax havens. As the climate and economic crises deepen, the case for progressive taxes becomes more compelling by the day. Aux armes citoyens!

John Christensen, director, Tax Justice Network

Over the past thirty years the prevailing neo-liberal ideology has framed taxes as fundamentally illegitimate. In exposing this big lie, The Great Revenue Robbery compellingly demonstrates the crucial and varied role of taxes in a flourishing democracy. If you want to understand what went wrong in Canadian public policy and how it can be fixed, you should read this book.

Neil Brooks, professor of tax law and co-author of The Trouble with Billionaires

The Great Revenue Robbery: How to Stop the Tax Cut Scam and Save Canada

2013 Canadians for Tax Fairness

First published in 2013 by:

Between the Lines

401 Richmond St. W., Studio 277

Toronto, Ontario M5V 3A8

1-800-718-7201

www.btlbooks.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of Between the Lines, or (for photocopying in Canada only) Access Copyright, 1 Yonge Street, Suite 1900, Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1E5.

Every reasonable effort has been made to identify copyright holders. Between the Lines would be pleased to have any errors or omissions brought to its attention.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

The great revenue robbery [electronic resource] : how to stop the tax cut scam and save Canada / Richard Swift, editor, for Canadian for Tax Fairness.

Electronic monograph in multiple formats.

Issued also in print format.

ISBN 978-1-77113-104-9 (EPUB).--ISBN 978-1-77113-105-6 (PDF)

1. Corporations--Taxation--Canada. 2. Rich people--Taxation--Canada. 3. Fiscal policy--Canada. 4. Taxation--Canada. I. Swift, Richard, 1946- II. Canadians for Tax Fairness

HJ2449.G74 2013 336.200971 C2012-907741-0

Cover design by Jennifer Tiberio. Front and back cover photo by Jennifer Tiberio. The image is part of a stone frieze on the exterior of the old Toronto Stock Exchange (what is now the Design Exchange). The frieze was designed by Charles Comfort in 1937 and depicts Canadian workers and industries in a Streamline Moderne style. It became a joke on Bay Street that one top-hatted stockbroker appears to have his hand in the pocket of the worker in front of him, though Comfort denied that this was intentional.

Page preparation by Steve Izma

Between the Lines gratefully acknowledges assistance for its publishing activities from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program and through the Ontario Book Initiative, and the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund.

JAMES CLANCY

IVE HAD IT. Enough is enough.

So-called experts are saying that the benefits of a radical free market agenda will trickle down to regular families.

Meanwhile, the wealth and income in this country are increasingly concentrated in the hands of the top 1 per cent, household debt is at an all-time high, poverty is at unacceptable levels, and the gap between rich and poor is an absolute canyon. Corporate executives are paying themselves multimillion-dollar salaries and bonuses while exploiting tax loopholes, and bankers are being bailed out with our tax dollars.

Meanwhile, millions of Canadians are working harder and longer but havent seen a pay hike (when you include inflation) for decades, and theyre getting the humanity hammered out of them by ruthless multinational corporations with an insatiable appetite for profits. Out-of-touch politicians are spending billions on corporate tax cuts, stealth fighter jets, and American-style federal mega-prisons.

Meanwhile, the same politicians are slashing spending on public services that families need, such as health care, education, and social services, and theyre making it harder to get Employment Insurance and Old Age Security benefits. Right-wing pundits on TV and AM talk radio are telling us that global warming and climate change are not serious problems and expressing open contempt for all environmental regulations.

Meanwhile, glaciers are melting, polar ice is receding, sea levels are rising, and were experiencing more extreme weather events like forest fires, droughts, coastal floods, water shortages, and insect infestations that are killing millions of hectares of trees.

What gives me hope is that I know there are lots of folks out there who have had enough with the direction our country is headed. Our job is to harness that frustration and dissatisfaction and turn it into action. Thats where this book is going to help. What you have in your hands is a playbook for taking back our country. And it all starts with the issue of taxes.

Our economy, society, and environment are in rough shape today because right-wing wrecking crews have been dismantling every progressive brick of our tax system: cutting personal income taxes for the wealthy, cutting taxes for profitable corporations, and cutting capital gains taxes for the super-rich, to name a few examples.

The goal of the rich is to ensure that private wealth always trumps common wealth. They know that the government (its social programs, regulations, and public institutions) stands in their way. So their strategy is to destroy the governments effectiveness.

They know the best way to do that is to choke off government revenues that come from taxes. Less tax revenue means less government, and who cares if that means a less sustainable and equitable economy, society, and environment, as long as it means more private wealth for the top 1 per cent? Thats all that matters to them.

Today, the common good of Canada requires, above everything else, a better, bolder, and fairer tax system.

For progressives like you and me, taking back our country starts with taking back the political debate and public narrative on taxes. This book will help you lead the fight to take back our country, in three ways.

First, it provides lots of logic, facts, and analysis on specific tax issues. It provides fresh ideas about how tax reform can help tackle the big issues facing our country today issues that include the economy, income inequality, climate change, poverty, public services, retirement security, and labour rights. In other words, it contains all the information you need to win the battle of ideas against the anti-tax crusaders.

But its not enough just to have ideas, analysis, and facts on our side. When it comes to winning the broader public to our cause, the truth alone will not set us free.

We also need to win the battle of values and vision. That means we must develop a compelling narrative. Thats the second way this book is going to help. Most Canadians make decisions about big policy issues based on their values and the identity they want for their country. The good news is that the research shows the vast majority of Canadians share progressive values and aspirations for their country. So we must develop the language and conceptual frames that invoke those values and aspirations. This book provides valuable insights on how you can communicate progressive tax policy ideas more persuasively. It provides advice on how to use words, metaphors, and frames to develop a public narrative that expresses the moral dimension of progressive tax policies.