I caught a couple of commercials for Canada’s EAP recently*.

I don’t like the government spending money on commercials, there’s something dirty about it. There’s an argument that they need to educate citizens about tax changes, but these ads aren’t educational. They repeat a phrase that bothers me. It’s something to the effect:

“The Home Renovation Tax Credit. Put your tax dollars back into your home.”

That’s the Conservatives trying to buy our votes with public funds while stimulating the [home renovation part of the] economy. A tax credit is a partial offset, and it requires initial outlay. You are not spending tax dollars.

The HRTC’s not a deduction, which offset your taxes at, usually, 100%. If you deduct $1,000 at a 15% tax rate, you offset your taxes payable by $1,000. If you get a tax credit for $1,000 at a 15% tax rate, your taxes are offset by $150.

The quip should be: “The Home Renovation Tax Credit. If you spend money renovating your home we’ll give you a fraction of it back at the end of the year.”

That’s less catchy though. The government’s phraseology is newspeaky frame control that implies that you’re getting some kind of fantastic deal.

Don’t believe the hype.

* Aside: The Truman Show is an amazing, amazing movie. Forced perspective FTW in the final sequence!