TAXES: YOU ARE THE TARGET 

It has always fascinated me that once you have learned how to operate in a jungle environment, how little change really occurs .... compared to living under today's government regulations. The jungle is the safer place.

Take taxes. They change .... if not daily, at least weekly, considering municipal, provincial or state and federal taxes. In Canada taxes are already taking more than half of earned income. In Hong Kong only one in eight pays any income tax at all and it is not because they aren't making a good living. Otherwise, why are 45,000 Canadians now working in Hong Kong?

How many realize the amount Canadians are now paying as a result of the present 11 percent Federal Communications Tax? And this is only the start. It is not just the amount directly paid to government. Because of new taxes levied on hotels, high service charges are added to phone calls from your hotel room. Watch this. These charges, along with the tax, can double the cost of a from-your-room call. Some hotels are now charging even if the call is not completed or if the line is busy! There is also a charge for long distance phone information. Hotel bills give no break-down of the communications tax, the call itself or the service charges, so you don't really know what you are paying for.

With the implementation of the new federal Goods and Services Tax on January 1, 1991, the tax burden and the complexity will be intolerable.

Airport departure taxes, once charged only by Third World countries are now usually higher in Canada than elsewhere. If you live in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver, BC) you can save substantial dollars by flying from Bellingham or Seattle. Even the parking is inexpensive at Bellingham Airport. The regular one-way fare US$64 (C$75.) fare from Vancouver to Seattle -- 127 air miles at 59 cents per mile -- is among the highest fares per mile in North America.

What to do? In the case of the phone, learn about CamNet. Its "by-pass" system allows you to "jump" into the much lower-priced U.S. System to save money phone calls and also avoid the expensive communications tax (still charged on that minor portion of calls from the Lower Mainland to the U.S. border). Discounts keep changing for both B.C. Tel and CamNet, but with CamNet the savings are substantial (see separate column with latest prices). To economize on air fares, drive to Bellingham airport. The flight then to Seattle, while not cheap (if that is as far as you go) can be as low as US $51 for the 94-mile flight. But you pay a $4 departure tax (to Seattle) instead of the Canadian departure tax of $12 and you park for a fraction of the Vancouver parking rate and can fill up your gas tank and save another $20 on the drive home. You can also bring back goods up to a value of $100 if you are outside Canada for 48 hours and $300 if you are away 14 days. If you go almost anywhere past Seattle and depart from Vancouver your departure tax will be $50.

Compared to Canadian airline fares, U.S. rates are far more competitive. Check them. You won't have to wait as long either when you phone for information. Most U.S. airlines have free U.S. 800 numbers listed with U.S. 800 phone information. CamNet now gives access to these numbers from Vancouver for mere pennies.

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