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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Letter of the day: Driving for golf fairness

Posted: 02/10/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Ross D. Franklin / The Associated Press Y.E. Yang, of South Korea, at the Phoenix Open Feb. 2, in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Doug Speirs' Feb. 6 column, I'm voting with Stoffer for tax-deductible golf, mentions that establishing tax fairness for the golf industry seems unnecessary with greater issues like "senior citizens fearing for their pensions," but what about individuals worried about their employment?

Directly and indirectly, golf employs more than 18,000 Manitobans, including substantial numbers of youth; over 43 per cent of those employed by the golf industry are students, many in need of golf's seasonal jobs to earn cash and obtain valuable work experience.

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In addition, suggesting that golf is an elite activity with a high price tag seems inconsistent with the $40 average green fee versus ticket prices for concerts, the Jets or Bombers.

Each year on golf courses across Canada, there are more than 25,000 charitable events, which raise more than $400 million for Canadian charities.

Golf-related expenditures are singularly excluded from allowable business expenses for no good reason, while businesses are free to entertain clients in myriad other ways with beneficial tax treatment.

The tax code is correct to acknowledge that such occasions represent the combination of business and personal; hence the 50 per cent deduction they incur.

Correcting a 40-year-old inequity in the tax code is about the fundamental concept of fairness that all Canadians understand.

Janet Jones

National Golf Course Owners Association Canada

Winnipeg

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 10, 2012 A11

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