Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I hate it more and more every year. Hoping that this is my last Albertan winter.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Of course driving is more fun, in the snow...

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Just need to get photos taken and can finally mail off my PR card renewal. I had it ready like 6 months ago, but always seem to forget, one time around I will get the application in before the card expires........

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

https://britishexpats.com/forum/cana.../#post12572611

Can someone explain, please, how a desire to maximise Benefits, even manipulating how something is applied for, is seen as scrounging and fiddling but it's perfectly fine when it comes to the tax system?

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

You know the answer. Poor people claim benefits.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Winner winner chicken dinner :)

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

But that answer would suggest a bias against poor people. Surely not? ;)
Keeping up standards...double ones...sounds more like it.

Looks like personal air fares - posh class, I expect - now count as something to have tax payer subsidy. :(

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Raccoons v Toronto

Trash pandas? :blink:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Would you like a battered sausage to go with the bag of chips on your shoulder?

In the example that you are using, (& brave of you to post about hidden here in this thread rather than replying directly to the poster involved) I don't see it as tax avoidance. If a person is being offered a relocation package by an employer, it's presumably because their talents are useful to that employer. If that includes the costs of flights (posh or otherwise), moving expenses, hotels etc, then it's not unreasonable to want to do that the most tax efficient way. In other words pay it through expenses (not taxable) or pay directly as the company as to paying the employee a bonus that they would pay income tax on. If the company chooses to do the latter then, for the employee to get the benefit that has been offered, the company would have to scale up the bonus to ensure that the post-tax amount meets the costs. That's all a bit unwieldy to expenses would seem to be the easiest way.

Are you suggesting the employee - who is valued enough to receive the relocation package - should receive it in such a way that they pay more tax and receive a lesser value than they've been promised? Doesn't' sound particularly smart to me. Frankly it all smacks of jealousy ("Posh flights") on your behalf. Equating it with benefit fraud and poor people is just wrong. Debate tax avoidance vs. benefit fraud if you like. That's a reasonable discussion to be had. But do it without the thinly veiled attack on another poster.

For disclosure I got my flight paid for relocation 14 or so years ago. It was in scum class & paid directly by the company or I paid it and expensed it. Either way, I didn't pay tax on it.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

It's not only their intelligence and dexterity that make them winners, it's their tenacity. If a raccoon wants into your garage it will not stop until it finds a way in, and they teach their young how to do it at the same time. There are a few documentaries about them; the one I saw was on PBS and the researchers radio-tagged urban raccoons and mapped their movements then tracked them down and recorded their activities.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Yes please.

.That was because I didn't want to derail a thread and I was avoiding unnecessary confrontation.

That's why I did it here.
But I didn't equate it with Fraud and poor people at all. I contrasted the different attitude when it's a tax deductible issue with a benefits issue. And for the record, there is nothing wrong in acting in a way t hat is advantageous if rules allow it. I just like to see consistency.

And if you don't mind me saying so, your response has summed up my point rather well. You chose the word Fraud when it came to benefits whereas I used manipulation for both.

In the benefits world there are similar manipulations or tactics to those mentioned in the other thread where one can gain by doing things in a certain way, just as the tax advantage may be better with something done in a different way. When it's a tax issue, getting the best deal is considered "smart" but it's Fraud for benefits.

Occasionally on BE there are threads like that one and the response is helpful advice about the best way to go about it. It's the same for currency transfers and a couple of other issues.

Equally occasionally there are threads - mostly in the moving back to the UK section but not always - where claiming some kind of benefit, perfectly legally, is mentioned and you get a bunch of judgmental replies.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Vancity credit union is having technical issues.Their systems have been down since Wed midnight, they don't seem to have a time frame of when the system will be up and running.

UPDATE: [3:00 PM PT] We continue to work to restore services to our banking system. ATM, Vancity Visa, and point of sales transactions are working. Our call centre and branches are open and while our transaction capabilities are limited, we will try our best to assist you.


Been a pain, can't access our account at all currently.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4521921/v...anking-outage/


Appears people are not able to receive their paychecks if done electronically, along with any federal government payment that was due to be paid today.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Dollar store looks about done, they have product on the shelves now. They say it will open on the 10th.

No Frills across the street, and now can do a good % of shopping without going more then 2 min walk away.

I often wish I had good speaking skills, others in my group always have such smart things to say, I sit there with a deer in headlight looks, can never figure out what to say or say it in a way that makes sense to others. Verbal communication isn't my strong suit.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Why on earth would anyone, anywhere, pay tax on a refunded expense? t's not income. There's no manipulation in declaring it as a refunded expense.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

But it doesn't appear to be that simple does it. That's why there are advantageous ways of going about it.

Going by the answers on that thread and other similar ones in the past, they may not always be a refundable expense depending on the way it's been done and that even when it is a refundable expense, doing it 'this' way rather than 'that' way may prove more beneficial, regardless of whether one actually did it the way that is most beneficial.

And remember this is about a contrast between reactions to two different 'sides' rather than a comment on one.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

If we divide society into people work and pay taxes vs. those who take benefits or are paid to dole out the benefits, the public will side with the people who contribute to society. And rightly so. That's reflected in the language used.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

My sister is having fun visiting Deniece in Folkestone, sends pictures of food booze and cats.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...0840537f5b.jpg

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

3 days now....still no time frame as to when it will be fixed.

This might cost the credit union some bussiness.

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-...ter-three-days

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I'm surprised at you, apparently believing that no people on benefits contribute to society (parents, carers for example?) and that all taxpayers - even Philip Green, Kavanaugh, Trump etc and the people running a A4e, G4S and now HES - are worthy contributors to same. :(

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I'd send the two on the left back whence they came, they're far too cloudy. Unless they're scrumpy, in which case beware...

Bring on the cat photos. :nod:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

There was a pub in Bristol we used to go to in town. The Malt and Hops. A very nice pint of Marston's Pedigree in there but they sold something called 1047 that had no other name.
It was always very cloudy and lovely. Sometimes cloudy seems to be okay.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Nice coins. :)

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/c..._in_vancouver/
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...2cde7241ad.jpg

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Neat Video.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Some of the stuff in here deserves a thread of its own.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

150 years before they can even reproduce.........these sharks are quite remarkable it seems.

https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/shar...e-nothing-fear

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...e1207fe44e.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...7e678a042e.jpg

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I had a tin of baked beans that didn't have that piece of fat in and I've a mind to make a complaint.

If they can do it with this tin, why not all of them? :rofl:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Ha ha ha, Bristol ate the fat!

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

:rofl:

Not a chance though. When I open a tin I meticulously teaspoon the contents into a dish, bit by bit, looking to find it. :nod:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

40 years ago I worked for a week putting out fires on a rail grinding train. It was from Tennessee and was manned by a mixture of youngsters and Vietnam vets, all southerners. The cook made fatback and beans for lunch which was white navy bean soup and big chunks of fat. I'd give it 2 stars.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

There's fat in beans? What kind of beans?

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Canned pork and beans.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

It seems it's every tin that's not "in tomato sauce" and, of course, I do buy those, but others too. In English it says Pork and in French it says Lard.

The first time I bought one, I saw the word pork on the tin but not the rest and thought "great, they have beans with pork sausage too" only to discover it was fat. But the beans are actually very good and I prefer them to plain ol' tomato ones.

Maybe they cook/taste better because of the fat but it really looks like it's been added to gross you out. :unsure:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

How desperate are you for them, lol..
https://www.amazon.com/Heinz-Baked-Beans-Pork-Sausages/dp/B004G968M0
https://www.britishcornershop.co.uk/...ges-large-size

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/offer-listing/B004G92ELE/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new:D

Now here's a thought - get a tin of those little sausages and chuck them in with the beans! https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/maple-l...=richrelevance

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Not at all. I'd rather have the curried beans :lol:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...93a104a73a.jpg


Done that too. Actually, there are some beans that have slices of hot dog type sausage in them. I just remembered that.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

They are called Beanee Weenee's :)

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Cool picture from the San Diego reddit. 1 hour from downtown roughly.


https://www.reddit.com/r/sandiego/co...the_beautiful/

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

My eyes were drawn to a picture of milk bottles on a doorstep at the bottom of the front page of today's newspaper. Ah, nostalgia.

Do you remember when milk was only 24c a quart? it said alongside.

Naturally it was advertising funeral planning. :confused: