“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” — Ronald Reagan
The government can never get enough of your money, and the argument is always that it’s for the common good.
The latest example comes from Vancouver, Canada, where empty and “under-occupied” homes will be taxed more.
Why would they do that? Follow the money. Skyrocketing public pension deficits, welfare, bureaucrats’ salaries and benefits, etc., etc., etc. all mean that governments have to find more and more ways to get into your pockets.
Starting Jan. 1, the Empty Home Tax will be slapped onto certain homeowners, and it will cost them up to 1% of the property’s assessed values.
“Vancouver is in a rental-housing crisis. The city won’t sit on the sidelines while over 20,000 empty and under-occupied properties hold back homes from renters,” Mayor Robertson told reporters at City Hall on Nov. 9 in providing details of the proposed administrative policy.
Those greedy homeowners who don’t want to rent their empty or “under-occupied” houses! How dare they think they have the right to do that? We’ll show them!
Note the language: “under-occupied property.” Who decides if your property is “under-occupied”? Bureaucrats, of course. A 3,000 square foot house with only 2 people living there? That’s being greedy. You have to take in more people. Some Syrian refugees or street people, perhaps. Oh, you refuse? Then pay up.
Bureaucrats’ compassion for the poor can always be bought.
