Tax on legal fees struck down
I worked for the Canadian Bar Association when the government of the day led by Glen Clark imposed the provincial sales tax on legal fees over ten years ago.
It was an arbitrary, punative tax imposed on the legal profession. A tax imposed not on the lawyers but those who sought legal services. A tax deliberately passed to gain tax revenues from the general public.
No matter how hard the Association members worked to convince that government and successive governments, the legal profession was the only provincial professional body legislated to collect the sales tax on its services.
All the tax did was to add more to the client’s bill. The tax didn’t affect the legal profession; it hurt those least able to afford legal services by adding the tax to their legal fees. The additional 7% was like a slap in the face to all lawyers.
Tax money in the millions supposedly earmarked for legal aid. Harrumph, the tax went to general revenues and legal aid funding has declined over the years.
After ten years the tax has been struck down through one individual who doggedly kept the issue before the courts. Ten years of taxes collected without merit. Taxes that should be returned to the public who were obliged to pay at the whim of the government.
Go HERE to read The Globe and Mail article: B.C.’s legal fee tax struck down.
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