BONOKOSKI: Taxman wrongly ripping off Kabul’s Canadian Embassy Afghans

Article content material

‘Let me inform you how it will likely be. There’s one for you, 19 for me. ‘Trigger I’m the taxman Yeah, I’m the taxman.”

Article content material

–The Beatles, 1966

The Canadian Income Company, the all the time vigil taxman, welcomed the 50 Afghans who labored for the Canadian Embassy in Kabul, after which escaped to Canada throughout their authorities’s overthrow by the Taliban, by taxing their pension and severance cash to the tune of fifty%.

The CRA had no proper to this cash.

None of it was earned or accrued in Canada. The staff have been Afghan residents, native hires, and paid earnings tax in Afghanistan.

The CRA was ripping them off.

Not solely that, when World Affairs Canada (GAC) assured the Afghans that the cash could be returned, the CRA as a substitute needed extra.

And it’s not chump change.

The 4 Afghan embassy workers I talked to over Zoom, all with lengthy tenure within the political wing of the now shuttered embassy, had a complete of $400,000 between them grabbed at supply.

Article content material

All in all, the amount of cash taken by the CRA ranges from $50,000 to $150,000, relying upon the worker, lots of whom have been native hires by the Canadian Embassy in Kabul since 2003.

“This isn’t to say we’re ungrateful to Canada as a result of we owe it our security and well-being,” stated one of many males, all of them asking for anonymity to protect family members nonetheless in Afghanistan from the wrath of the Taliban.

“However the CRA made a mistake.”

Pissed off by the stalemate, a letter was written to the particular parliamentary committee on Afghanistan, chaired by B.C. Liberal MP, Sukh Dhaliwal.

“We’re merely being punished for our service and risking our lives, in addition to these of our households for the Canadian authorities within the extraordinarily difficult atmosphere of Afghanistan,” reads the letter.

Article content material

“We want to invite the honorable members of this Particular Committee on Afghanistan to place themselves in our footwear. Would you contemplate this honest whereas having no tax legal responsibility to the federal government of Canada?

“We really feel we now have been taken benefit of by GAC and CRA as unvoiced newcomers. Being new in Canada and realizing little or no about how you can take care of this unfair, merciless remedy, we flip to you as our solely supply of hope for assist.”

Bear in mind, all these folks risked their lives to help Canada, and gave up their properties to flee the fast justice of the Taliban.

“We want to remind the revered members of this Committee that we have been compelled to depart our properties, misplaced every part we labored for our whole life in Afghanistan, and haven’t any entry to our financial institution accounts in Afghanistan which have been frozen by the Taliban.

Article content material

“As a substitute of demonstrating compassion to our scenario, World Affairs Canada (GAC) and the CRA have been ripping us off by making use of retroactive tax on the statutory severance and pension we accrued in Afghanistan earlier than acquiring everlasting residency standing in Canada.”

The letter continued.

“We raised our issues with CRA and GAC on quite a few events to have them repair the issue, however their working degree workers failed to offer passable solutions,:

“We now have not been capable of set up communication with the senior officers in CRA and GAC to tell them of our disappointment, however we hope you’ll assist us on this regard and lift our concern.”

Higher nonetheless, whereas her focus in the present day is on Ukraine, all the package deal needs to be plopped on the desk of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Sufficient of attempting to take care of the rank-and-file.

Take it to the highest.

markbonokoski@gmail.com