There are so many things to think about in life when it comes to finances. We know that we all have to pay taxes and for the most part we are just glad to get it over and done with each year. Many times we just give some fleeting thoughts as to what our tax dollars are used for. Keep in mind that income tax is just one many different types of taxes that we pay. When we are disgruntled about having to drive along a pot hole laden road, that is playing havoc on our vehicles, it might jog us into thinking about just where are our various tax dollars going.
What we should be remembering is that all levels of Government work for us the tax payers. Knowing this we should pay a little more attention as to what they are doing with the money we give them to work with which is our tax dollars. This money is allocated to three areas that affect us. A portion of it goes to the Federal level, then a portion goes to the Provincial level, and your other types of taxes like your property tax for example, goes to your municipal level.
Starting at the top the Federal Government has many programs in place that are supposed to benefit us as the residents of Canada. We have looked at some of these specific programs in the past, but now we are going to look at the Federal Gas Tax Fund and how any of the potential benefits of this program actually flow down to you.
To start with the Gas Tax Fund (GTF) has been renewed under the New Building Canada Plan.
It’s history:
The gas tax is an excise tax that is collected on various types of fuel like gasoline, diesel and aviation. Added to this is the collection of GST on the gasoline and diesel. The CRA is the government body responsible for the collection of these funds. The provincial governments also collect funds from excise taxes on gasoline and diesel.
The Federal government takes the money collected from this and utilizes it in various programs, and a portion of it goes into the Gas Tax Fund. The provinces use their collections usually for their construction and road repairs. Some of the provinces like Ontario for example will go directly to the municipalities for them to allocate. Originally the Federal Gas Tax Fund was put in place so municipalities would receive $5 billion in funding over a 5 year period.
The New Approach:
The current government is taking credit for doubling the annual GTF for municipalities from $1 billion to $2 billion.
While you may not get overly excited about the GTF, it is still important to know about its existence, especially if you are starting to take an interest in where all the tax money that you give to the government ends up. The knowledge that you gain from all this type of information can have a big impact on the way you vote in the future. Your vote is your voice, use it well.
