Recently good ol’ Jim picked out his new shoes for the 2010 budget. As you may well know, our tax payer money pays for the Finance Minister’s new shoes… it’s tradition. One year (2006) our British Columbian finance minister Carol Taylor picked out a nice pair of $600 GUCCI shoes but that was when we were all flush with cash and BEFORE the depression recession, I suppose. But I digress.
The Canadian Federal 2010 Budget was underwhelming, to say the least. Canadians were very hopeful for an extension to the popular Renovation Tax Credit, but they didn’t give it to us. Our national deficit is $53.8 Biilllliioooon dollars (insert Austin Powers impression here). They decided to cut corporate taxes some more to make Canada a foreign-investor friendly place. Nothing really changed that would affect the average Canadian, it seems.
Except if you are the average Canadian who is into cosmetic surgery! Jim Flaherty closed the loophole that would allow people to claim their Botox injections, breast augmentation, nose jobs, teeth whitening and liposuction surgeries as medical expenses. Jim didn’t even give those people a chance to ‘Botox till you drop’ until the new rules kick in, because the new rules kicked in the day the budget was announced. This is supposed to save the government $40 million dollars because people in the past could claim for a 15% tax credit if the medical expenses exceed 3% of your net income or $2024 (whichever is less).
What do you think about this? I have never done any cosmetic augmentation and don’t think I ever will, but I guess if anyone did, it would be nice to get some cash-back from the government, way to milk the system, right? My American friends, does your tax system allow you to deduct the costs of cosmetic or medical procedures?
I love blogging about Jim Flaherty, our Canadian Finance Minister. You can now follow him on twitter! @FinanceCanada LOL the GOVERNMENT is even using social media. Is that a good thing or is it slightly disturbing?
You still have a way to reach our national debt of over 12.5 Trillion Dollars! We do have a medical tax deduction, but I can’t say for sure if you can deduct implants and cosmetic surgery. Hopefully not, but I wouldn’t be surprised with how complicated our tax system has become.
@Investing Newbie Oh I didn’t know Obama had an account! Yes, even the Dalai Lama has a twitter account now..! That’s true- it is about transparancy, so I suppose this is a good thing. Everyone and their kitchen sink seems to have hopped onto this twitter band wagon, it seems =) Yes, Flaherty probably picked out his shoes at Payless haha =)
@BibleDebt 12.5 Trillion…? That’s quite the sum, though you do have 10x the population than us =) Yes, hopefully cosmetic procedures cannot be deducted, though your medical system’s tax payers don’t have to pay for botched cosmetic procedures like ours does!
I didn’t know about that tradition. I think its very interesting. I’m guess Flaherty stuck to Payless this year, huh? I don’t know too much about tax law, just that the gov’t loves my money a bit too much, but I’m going to go ahead and say, that no, we don’t get cash-back for that stuff.
I also think its great that the government is trying to increase transparency by using social media. But is does he actually do the Tweeting? Obama has admitted to never tweeting in his life, although he has an account.
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On a somewhat related matter, I heard in the news today that a woman got shot and the breast implant saved her!
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@The Rat LOL! haha thanks for sharing. Is she from Canada? Wow, so she got a tax deduction on her implants AND it saved her life! Two birds with one stone- now THAT’s a good deal. =)
I hope the closed loophole still allows for women who have suffered from breast cancer to receive the credit. I know my insurance allows for augmentation in those cases. Otherwise that’s pretty nuts!
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@Stay at Home Mom CFO Excellent point. I’m pretty sure that the Canadian government would allow this- infact, I think that for those who have suffered from breast cancer, they can choose to have augmentation done after removal and this is covered 100% (So I don’t think they will need to pay anything for it, so they probably won’t receive the credit). If the scenario you brought up is the case, the government would be collllllllddd! =(
@young: LOL Too funny…I’m not sure where it happened but I head it in passing and just paused momentarily because of the strange information I was trying to process
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Wow, I didn’t know that the government would consider cosmetic surgery to be a health expense… I mean, getting bigger breast really doesn’t aid in health, and if fact may hinder health (back pain, etc).
With the Healthcare bill being voted on Sunday, who know what will happen with healthcare in America…
But I would hope cosmetic surgery would not be considered.
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@Money Reasons Yeah, this is the Canadian government you’re talking about. They roll like that. =) I’m glad, because in the end, the public system pays for botched boob jobs anyways!
I am very curious to know what the US’s new health care bill will look like…I highly doubt they will include cosmetic surgery though. If they DO then there will be a ridiculous amount of consultations with plastic surgeons!
[...] Canadian 2010 Budget and What it Has to Do with Implants: I was amazed that Canada considers cosmetic surgery as a health expense that covered under the [...]
Wow! New shoes for the new budget (how ironic
… especially if it’s a female minister) and deduction on cosmetic surgery?
Last year, the Australian Government decided to give every taxpayer $900 as an incentive to spend and boost the economy.
I used most of it for a scuba diving class which I couldn’t complete because the shop went under. Another irony.
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@Bytta I heard about that! $900 each to stimulate economic spending- I wish they would do that here! I think they did but not to that amount, but they only gave it to people on income assistance, I think. Though your economy hasn’t been affected too poorly by the economic downturn, right? Your interest rates are still really good (more than the measly 1% for GIC’s we get here), from what I recall. Oh no, that’s too bad about the scuba diving class- that is ironic indeed! So did you find another company to learn with?
Oh, the horrors of not being able to deduct your cosmetic surgery on your taxes; the whole situation just makes me sick!
I’m glad the US isn’t the only country with politicians adding and removing deductions seemingly willy nilly. Keep hanging tough!
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@The Amateur Financier Oh I know, the INJUSTICE! I just get goosebumps thinking that the cosmetic surgery I did isn’t going to be tax deductible!! (i’m kidding!) Hopefully this new health care bill for the US turns out good. I’m crossing my fingers for you guys. =)
Yes:) Mrs. Mouse and I lived together for a few years before taking the plunge and getting married. It was great and we took it to the next level and tied the knot last summer. We also managed to marry for about $5,000 by heading down south at a sunny location and at an all-inclusive resort.
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@The Rat Awe congrats on wedded bliss! So you did a destination wedding, huh? $5000 is dirt cheap for a wedding- AND everyone gets to have a vacation. Nice!