New fitness tax credit

Special tax breaks, such as the federal Conservative government's new fitness tax credit to put kids in sports, add to the compliance and administrative costs of Canada's tax system, which are close to $31 billion, or nearly $1,000 for every Canadian, the Fraser Institute said in a report Thursday.  Preparing, filing and submitting tax returns plus maintaining a government bureaucracy to manage and regulate the tax system cost Canadians between $19 billion and $31 billion in 2005, says the report by the right-leaning think-tank.  "When you add up all the costs -- the time and effort spent obtaining or providing receipts and other documents, preparing and submitting the actual tax return, plus the cost of a government bureaucracy to manage the system -- they worked out to between $19 billion and $31 billion in 2005," said Jason Clemens, director of fiscal studies at the institute and co-author of the study. "That translates to a cost of $585 to $955 for every man, woman and child in the country."  Source.