
Taxing benefits - theory and reality
In case you’ve been living under a rock inside of a cave, there’s been a recent snafu between the government and the CRA, as this screenshot of a search for “benefit taxes Canada” can attest. The government/CRA have been accused of going after “de minimis” benefits for tax purposes (think the subway worker who gets a good deal on his sandwich for lunch, or the retail employee who can take 20% off their clothing purchase).
So what’s the concern here? First there’s an issue wi

Just in time for Halloween: Masks, Ghosts, and open data!
At the recent FSRDC (Federal Statistical Research Data Center) conference in the US, a presentation was given on how secure data can be released while preserving confidentiality. While the US don’t have any solutions yet, it’s worth bringing this discussion to Canada because now that we have the ability to preserve and analyze administrative data, we need to make a decision regarding whether or not administrative data should be available. The fact that it hasn’t been availabl

My first blog post for a while
I'm not blogging yet, but I will try to get to it soon. The blog will eventually be more for me than for any specific audience, like a diary that I leave open for the entire world. #blog #anotherpersonontheinternet