Taxation and social programs

this unit was so shortttt

Social program

• provided by the government and paid for by taxes

• reduce economic inequalities and promote the well-being of citizens

• decision of the government to provide or not

examples of social programs

• healthcare

• child benefits

• employment insurance (EI)

• public education

• Canada pension plan

government levels funding services 

• different levels of government provide funding for certain social programs

• Ex: the province funds health care because health care providers are trained for situations within the province

Health insurance

an agreement by a company to pay for your health services in exchange for a fee that you pay each month or year

Private health care

health care paid for by the individual

Public health care

Health care paid for by taxes

Good and Services Tax (GST)

a federal sales tax in Canada

Income tax

Tax based on a percentage of a person’s income

Sales tax

• tax paid at the time of buying a product or service

• based on a percentage of the price of the product or service

property tax

• what the province or city thinks should be tax on properties

• tax paid based on the value of a property

corporate tax

companies paying taxes

Canada vs. USA taxes

• Canada has more taxes, which means more funding for services

• USA has less taxes, hence, less services

Underground economy

• Economic activity based on buying and selling products and services illegally

• buying products without any tax

• impacts the tax base

Black market

another term for underground economy

tax evasion

• not paying taxes

• it impacts government funded services, as not enough tax revenue is coming in, meaning less funding

Tax base

all the economic activity in a society, taxed by government to pay for services

Taxation model

• a policy of a political party or government about what to tax, how much to tax, and how to spend taxes

• how a political party spends tax on reflects their values

Political Platform

• describes the official policies of a political party

• reflects their stance on issues linked to social programs and taxation models

• policies reflect the values of the members

• values can shift over time