913407
Dear Madam:
Re: Liability for Income Tax
We have received your letters of June 13 and November 29, 1991 concerning the cost of translating the Manitoba legislation into French.
In our previous letters to you of April 20, June 2 and August 22, 1989, we explained that the authority to collect the income tax imposed by a province or the federal government is separate from the authority to spend the funds so collected. There are several court cases (eg. Jerilynn Prior v the Queen 89 DTC 5503, Gerard O'Sullivan v the Queen 91 DTC 5491) where an individual has objected to a particular government expenditure (eg. military expenditures, abortion policy) and has withheld a particular percentage of taxes in protest. In those cases, the courts have affirmed that an individual's protest over a particular government expenditure does not alter the individual's requirement to pay taxes.
In your letters, you have made it clear that you do not think that the Manitoba government should be spending your tax dollars on the translation of Manitoba legislation into French for the reasons stated therein. Since we do not have expertise on constitutional matters, we cannot help you in this regard.
As the control of expenditures of the Manitoba government is held by the Provincial Treasurer, you may wish to contact that office for information on the appropriate area of government to which you may address your concerns. Please note, however, that further correspondence with this Department on this matter will not be productive since the responsibilities of this Department do not include matters relating to the issues raised in your correspondence. However, if you have any questions which relate specifically to the rules imposed under the Income Tax Act of Canada, you should contact your local district taxation office.
We trust our comments will be of assistance to you.
Yours truly,
P.D. Fuoco for DirectorBusiness and General DivisionRulings DirectorateLegislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Branch
c.c. J. Purda, Director of Winnipeg District Office