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Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse

Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse.

Fewer threatening calls from fake tax agents because of arrests in India

Canadians are receiving fewer scam phone calls from fake Canada Revenue Agency agents demanding money, but must still be wary of fraudsters despite the lull, the RCMP said in a statement on Friday.

The drop in calls is likely the result of arrests in Thane, India, on Oct. 5. Authorities in India arrested about 70 people from a call centre and questioned hundreds of other call-centre employees.

People in Canada and the U.S. have been plagued by aggressive callers claiming to be tax agency officials. Reading from a script, they accuse their victims of owing large amounts in back taxes and threaten to have them arrested.

Initial reports said the arrests in India were linked to U.S. Internal Revenue Service scams, but the RCMP has since discovered they were also involved with calls into Canada.

Complaints about Canada Revenue Agency scam calls “significantly decreased to a small fraction of what was reported for the weeks and months leading up to these arrests,” the RCMP said.

“Though the reports have diminished, it does not necessarily mean that this scam has stopped.”

The scam callers have also pretended to be immigration agents and police officers.

Source: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/fewer-threatening-calls-from-fake-tax-agents-because-of-arrests-in-india-1.2371613

Why the U.S Still Trails Many Wealthy Nations in Access to Care

Many are still unhappy with Obamacare.

The main intent of the Affordable Care Act was to expand the safety net (Medicaid), regulate the non- employer-based private insurance market (the insurance exchanges) and help people buy that insurance (subsidies) in order to reduce the number of Americans who are uninsured.

On those metrics, it appears to be succeeding.

First and foremost, Obamacare was about improving access to healthcare. While it did improve access to insurance, in many, many other ways the United States is falling short. Things are likely to get worse before they get better.

Even with Obamacare, the Unites States still ranks poorly among comparable countries in insurance coverage. Even in 2016, when the rate of insured is the best it has ever been in the United States, Americans still have a greater percent of the population uninsured than pretty much any other industrialized nation in the world.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/upshot/why-the-us-still-trails-many-wealthy-nations-in-access-to-care.html?_r=0

Physician Assistants Could Result In Significant Savings For Canadian Health Care System: Report

There is a way to achieve some savings in the Canadian health care system, claims a new report.

The Conference Board of Canada says by hiring more physician assistants and integrating them into health care teams, millions could be saved in efficiency gains.

In 2015, the health care system cost Canadians $219M, with physician services, hospitals and drugs making up 60% of the spending.

The report says the PAs could step in and complete more routine tasks, to free up the physicians’ time. The Board says if PAs are able to relieve more than 30% of physicians’ time in all areas, this could represent $620M in costs savings for the health care system

Source: http://www.900chml.com/syn/60/177190/physician-assistants-could-result-in-significant-savings-for-canadian-health-care-system-report

Thousands of Win/Win Policy Changes Are Being Ignored by Politicians, Says New Report

DALLAS, OCTOBER 18, 2016 – Imagine a government spending program that could be altered in a way that lowers the cost to the taxpayers and at the same time improves services for the beneficiaries. The change would literally make everyone better off.

Such opportunities are neither rare nor unusual according to a seasoned public policy analyst. They are ubiquitous.

“Opportunities to make everyone better off are everywhere in the public policy world,” says John Goodman, an economist who heads the Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research. Goodman is often referred to as the “Father of Health Savings Accounts,” and is credited with being a source of other public policy ideas, including the Roth IRA. His latest report is published by the Independent Institute, a think tank in Oakland California.

As an example, Goodman points to the Veterans Administration policy on prescription drugs. Veterans who tire of waiting for an appointment with VA doctors often go to private doctors to get prescriptions. But before they can get the prescription filled at the VA (where the prices are much lower) they must get a second prescription from a VA doctor.

“Veterans are the only people in our society who must get two prescriptions in order to get access to discounts on drugs. If we dropped that silly rule and let veterans fill private doctor prescriptions at the VA, we could lower the time cost and the money cost of veteran health care. And since we wouldn’t need as many VA doctors, we could lower the cost to the taxpayers as well.”

Goodman gives other examples of potential win/win changes in federal programs:

  • Medicare should stop refusing to pay for phone and email doctor consultations, which are available from private services for a fraction of the cost of a doctor’s office visit.
  • Medicaid should allow patients to add cash to the government’s reimbursement rate and gain access to walk-in clinics, where typical prices are well below the cost (to Medicaid) of a doctor visit or emergency room care.
  • Medicare should start paying for Uber type doctor house calls (arrival within an hour at a cost of $100) instead of paying $500 for an emergency room visit at nights and on weekends.

“In each of these cases, a sensible change would improve access to care for the beneficiaries and lower the cost to the taxpayers at the same time,” he says.

You would think that politicians would jump at the chance to propose changes that make everybody happy and nobody mad. But apparently they don’t. Goodman says there are thousands of opportunities like these that are routinely ignored by politicians and government officials. Why is that?

“Washington is engulfed in two party warfare. If the two parties came together and did something that benefited everyone, the political base on each side would be suspicious. If your opponents aren’t screaming and yelling in opposition, the tendency is to think that your representatives aren’t doing their job,” he said.

Skeptics have suggested that Goodman may be too optimistic about the opportunities he envisions. After all, if you make it easier to get a prescription, people will get more of them, and that will increase the government’s cost. Similarly, if you make it easier to see a doctor, people will visit doctors more often. That may be good for the patient. But it could make the government’s cost higher as a result.

Goodman’s answer: trial and error and recalibration. For example, imagine we drop the requirement of a second prescription, but initially charged veterans with private prescriptions at the VA pharmacy a price that equal the private sector price. Then, start lowering that price.

As the price drops, more prescriptions would be filled and the cost to the government of filling them would rise. But as long as the price the veteran is paying is greater than the marginal increase in costs to the government, everyone is gaining.

“The VA needs to start thinking like a private business instead of a government bureaucracy, says Goodman. “Private companies don’t adopt policies and never change them for the next decade. They recalibrate what they’re doing all the time.”

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About Goodman Institute

Led by Dr. John C. Goodman, the Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research (GIPPR), is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization that promotes private alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector. Topics include reforms in health care, taxes, and entitlements. Visit www.goodmaninstitute.org.

Source:  http://www.goodmaninstitute.org/thousands-of-winwin-policy-changes-are-being-ignored-by-politicians-says-new-report/

CRA nets $240M from probe of real estate tax cheats in B.C., Ont.

The Canada Revenue Agency says it has recovered more than $240 million from audits related to probes of tax cheating on real estate in British Columbia and Ontario.

According to figures published on the CRA’s website, the bulk of the money comes from probes in Ontario, where the federal department has recovered $210.4 million through more the 13,400 audits conducted between April 2015 and September 2016

More than 10,900 of those Ontario audits are related to the GST/HST New Housing and New Residential Rental Property rebates, and resulted in $143.9 million in recoveries.

Meanwhile, the CRA says it has recovered $30.3 million from 2,366 audits in British Columbia, with more than half of that money related to GST/HST fraud probes.

CRA has also imposed $12.5 million in penalties. In the event a taxpayer knowingly makes a false statement when filing a return, the CRA can apply a penalty equal to 50 per cent of the additional tax payable. Between April 2015 to September 2016, the CRA applied 663 penalties, with the biggest one hitting almost $2.5 million.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cra-audits-real-estate-1.3813584

Former Iowa psychiatrist pleads guilty to health care fraud

A Grinnell, Iowa physician has pleaded guilty in federal court on two counts of health care fraud, says U.S. Attorney Kevin VanderSchel .

Richard Hauser, 66, of North Liberty, submitted claims to Iowa Medicaid and Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield for a more expensive service than was actually performed in order to receive a profit, according to the plea agreement. Hauser “up coded” these services from November 2011 through December 2012 while working at a clinic in Grinnell called The Hauser Clinic.

Source: http://wqad.com/2016/10/19/former-iowa-psychiatrist-pleads-guilty-to-health-care-fraud/

Canadian Gov’t Keeping Options Open On Digital Taxation

Canadian Heritage Minister Melanie Joly has said that she will discuss with the Finance Minister the potential application of a sales tax to foreign online services operating in the country.

During an interview with CTV News, Joly was asked whether the Government would force companies such as Netflix to pay into the Canada Media Fund that contributes to the production of Canadian content. She responded: “There will be no Netflix tax. This is a broader question: it’s about the participation of digital platforms to the system.”

In September, Joly launched a consultation on “Canadian Content in a Digital World.” Commenting on the consultation, Joly told CTV that the Government was “looking at all scenarios – certainly we want to engage with different digital platforms in the conversation and how they can support Canadian content.”

Pressed as to whether the Government could apply a sales tax for foreign online services operating in Canada, Joly replied that “this is a conversation of course that I will be having with the Minister of Finance Bill Morneau regarding sales tax.” She did however emphasize that this issue was “not necessarily under the purview of Canadian heritage – it’s much more under the purview of my colleague.”

Source: http://www.tax-news.com/news/Canadian_Govt_Keeping_Options_Open_On_Digital_Taxation____72512.html

Internet price hikes could be coming as Ottawa reviews cultural policy, critics warn

Like it or not, your internet bill might soon go up to help pay for something you may not care all that much about — Canadian content.

The federal government has launched a massive review of Canadian-made content in the digital age that will include who should be footing the bill.

For decades, cable and satellite TV providers have had to contribute funds to create domestic programs. The idea is simple: if we support Canadian storytelling, we help preserve our culture and identity.

But critics claim an added internet levy is not a wise move for Canada. They believe the fee would be passed on to customers, making a vital service cost prohibitive for some.

“We need to make sure the internet is more accessible to Canadians, not less,” said Josh Tabish with Vancouver-based Open Media, an internet advocacy group.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/internet-canadian-content-government-1.3810251

Why Canadian Club is cheaper in America: A product-by-product look at the U.S.-Canada price gap

Canadian shoppers live with the fear that whenever they buy something, an American to the south is probably buying it cheaper. But an investigation of the so-called cross-border “price gap” reveals a murky world where some items are pricier, some things are cheaper — and it’s not always clear why.Below, a maddening product-by-product journey into the phenomenon that everyone hates, but nobody understands.

From Bellingham, Wash. to Champlain, N.Y., the United States’ northern border is filled with towns whose primary industry is servicing the whims of Canadian shoppers. One of the top sellers in these towns? Tires. Depending on the model, it can cost up to 50 per cent more to swap them out in Canada versus doing it in the U.S. According to the Tire Dealer Association of Canada, it’s all due to “country pricing.” There is no import tariff to bring U.S.-made tires into Canada, but Canadians retailers say that their supplier contracts with tire makers force them to buy from Canadian affiliates who charge inflated Canada-specific prices. “In the end it’s the Canadian tire consumer who gets gouged by higher tire prices,” wrote the Association in 2013. But as with many things on this list, there is no blanket rule. A Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus goes for $112.99 at a typical Canadian Costco. Head to the Bellingham, WA Costco, meanwhile, and you’ll pay $125.05.

Source: http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/why-canadian-club-is-cheaper-in-america-a-product-by-product-look-at-the-u-s-canada-price-gap

Provincial Sales Tax continues to be hindrance on B.C.’s economic growth

B.C.’s CPAs are increasingly finding the current provincial sales tax (PST) regime to be hindering business success in B.C. Nearly 60 per cent of CPAs find the return to the PST system has posed a “major” or moderate” challenge to business success, an increase of 6 per cent from 2015, in the latest Business Outlook Survey administered by the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC).

Source: http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/provincial-sales-tax-continues-to-be-hindrance-on-bcs-economic-growth-2167159.htm