Commentary regarding “Divorced Father Fights Taxman” :CRA SOTW
Justice for divorced fathers
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Monday, April 07, 2008
Re: Divorced father fights taxman, April 2.
Congratulations to George Calogeracos for highlighting some of the biases and discriminations in family law, federal support guidelines and tax laws regarding fathers and divorce.
I was caught in the same situation as Mr. Calogeracos. After a lengthy and costly court battle, I won joint custody and equal access. I also discovered I could not claim either of my sons as equivalent-to-spouse, yet my ex-wife could. All because I paid child support. There are too many assumptions in family and tax law that side with one parent, the mother, and unfairly punish the father. The road to correct these injustices will require legislative change.
Sadly, most fathers cannot afford such expensive battles after eroding their life savings in court trying to gain equal access and joint custody. The amount of support awarded is crippling too, even in shared custody situations.
The tone of the letter from the finance minister speaks volumes about the hurdle fathers face in trying to achieve fairness and sanity. Mr. Calogeracos was basically told to "shut up or put up".
Either leave the tax law alone or there "might" be changes to the child support laws to increase your payments -- in effect eliminating any savings he might gain from the same tax break his ex-wife receives. The mother's income is not a factor in this tax rule at all yet the reason for the break to mothers is that their income is assumed to be lower than the fathers'. This must be a ridiculous carry-over from Family Law where the recipient of support's income is not a factor in child support determination. Most mothers can claim their legal fees as a tax deduction under the Tax Act, yet fathers can not. Revenue Canada is living in a fantasy world to think an ex-spouse would willingly share half of the tax refund in shared custody situations. I hope this trial will bring much needed legislative change.
Michael Ball,
Ottawa
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miss a Tax Tale Miss a lot!
Pop the link below into your browser to view the entire CRA SOTW Library!
http://canada.revenue.agency.angelfire.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Justice for divorced fathers
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Monday, April 07, 2008
Re: Divorced father fights taxman, April 2.
Congratulations to George Calogeracos for highlighting some of the biases and discriminations in family law, federal support guidelines and tax laws regarding fathers and divorce.
I was caught in the same situation as Mr. Calogeracos. After a lengthy and costly court battle, I won joint custody and equal access. I also discovered I could not claim either of my sons as equivalent-to-spouse, yet my ex-wife could. All because I paid child support. There are too many assumptions in family and tax law that side with one parent, the mother, and unfairly punish the father. The road to correct these injustices will require legislative change.
Sadly, most fathers cannot afford such expensive battles after eroding their life savings in court trying to gain equal access and joint custody. The amount of support awarded is crippling too, even in shared custody situations.
The tone of the letter from the finance minister speaks volumes about the hurdle fathers face in trying to achieve fairness and sanity. Mr. Calogeracos was basically told to "shut up or put up".
Either leave the tax law alone or there "might" be changes to the child support laws to increase your payments -- in effect eliminating any savings he might gain from the same tax break his ex-wife receives. The mother's income is not a factor in this tax rule at all yet the reason for the break to mothers is that their income is assumed to be lower than the fathers'. This must be a ridiculous carry-over from Family Law where the recipient of support's income is not a factor in child support determination. Most mothers can claim their legal fees as a tax deduction under the Tax Act, yet fathers can not. Revenue Canada is living in a fantasy world to think an ex-spouse would willingly share half of the tax refund in shared custody situations. I hope this trial will bring much needed legislative change.
Michael Ball,
Ottawa
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miss a Tax Tale Miss a lot!
Pop the link below into your browser to view the entire CRA SOTW Library!
http://canada.revenue.agency.angelfire.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------