urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nleavitt Now with more zing. NEd 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nleavitt:18518 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z So, the other day at work, everybody had to fill out tax forms, for how much the govrenment should be taking off our paychecks automattically. This is because, effective June 1rst, the basic personal exemption changed. That is, the amount that every Canadian can have tax free. The confusing thing is... it went <i>down.</i> Like, $480 or something. Which is odd. Of course, at first, we all just figured that this little trick was to balance out Harpers dumb-ass GST cut. But that would be too sensible and obvious for the Conservatives. So i did a little bit of digging. Under the 2005 (Liberal) budget, the exemption was meant to increase over the next three years, to hit $10,000. Even the 2006 budget says it's supposed to increase. And we won't be paying more income tax. Because the income tax rate for the lowest bracket decreased by .5%. And in accordance with the Conservative philosophy of doubling the length of the tax code, there is a new $500 credit for working Canadians. You get it if you are employed. Sorry, old people and cripples, nothing for you. Oh wait, theres the transit credit. 80 whopping dollars. woooo!