Sunday, January 21, 2007

Skating as Tax Break?

After walking out of the Parade of Champions for the Canadian Figure Skating Championships this evening I asked my mom if she minded that we didn't attend ALL the events on our full-pass tickets. It seems that attendance was down at the Skate Canada event and that organizers were concerned about the profile of skating in Canada. My mom said that she considered the cost of those unused tickets her donation to Skate Canada. And it made me think ... what a great idea.

We should make tickets to Canadian Amateur sport events, in particular those events put on by organizations that provide our Olympians and world athletes, tax-deductable donations. This way, people may be inspired to purchase higher-priced packages to these events thus channelling more funds to support our national athletes as well as giving a break to taxpayers for this support. If we can claim charitable donations to other non-profit organizations and causes then why not do the same for our amateur athletics? Of course this would require a listing of organizations that qualify and a base minimum purchase for a claim but I still think it would be an interesting way to foster support for our champions. And from my point of view, it is a much better tax incentive for the average Canadian then reduced GST points or $100 a month freebies. It's just a thought.

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