For Canadian taxpayers, 2002 brings with it very little in the way of substantive tax relief. While the recent budget was heavily laden with political spin and spending obfuscation, tax cuts were as prevalent as palm trees in Yellowknife.

Unlike last January, federal personal income tax rates will not be reduced. Instead, tax brackets will be indexed for an inflation factor of 3%. This is a result of the bracket creep victory (spearheaded by the CTF) that taxpayers won in the February 2000 budget.

Come January 1, the basic personal exemption (BPE) will rise from $7,412 to $7,634. While welcome, this is a far cry where the BPE should be right now, some $8,500 if our tax system had been fully indexed since 1986.

When one considers that a minimum wage job pays $15,000 per year and Ottawa starts dinging these folks for taxes mid-way through the year, we look pretty stingy compared to the Americans who start paying around $8,000 CDN (or more depending on filing method) or the Brits at $10,355 CDN.

Along with the BPE, tax brackets are also changing. The 16% tax bracket now runs from $7,634 to $31,677 as opposed to $7,412 to $30,754 in 2001.

The 22% tax bracket kicks in at $31, 677 to $63,354 up from $30,754 to $61,509. The upper middle-income bracket starting January 1st ranges from $63,354 to $103,000, a small jump from its current $61,509 to $100,000.

Finally, the high income (puhlease, as if) tax rate of 29% now takes hold at $103,000 in 2002 as opposed to $100,000.

As well, the general corporate tax rate is cut by 2 percentage points from 27% to 25% for 2002. Another measure - announced in last month's budget - is a six-month deferral of small business taxes which fall due in January, February or March of 2002. This measure is estimated at $2 billion.

But the key word here is deferral. While this may help small businesses in the short-term with cashflow issues and aid Ottawa in fiscal 2002/2003 with its own revenue challenges, the $2 billion will still flow into federal coffers.

The feds continue to crow about their $100 billion - on paper - tax cut. But this is hocus pocus accounting which factors in foregone revenues from bracket creep, counts child tax benefits as tax cuts and diminishes the total payroll tax burden.

Speaking of payroll taxes, while EI premiums are coming down by a nickel, CPP premiums will jump by 40 cents. Bottom line, a $41,000 employee will pay an extra $157 in payroll taxes next year: the largest annual jump in EI and CPP premiums in over a decade.

Ottawa recently boasted that a two-earner, family of four at $60,000 is paying $1,262 less in federal taxes (personal and EI cuts). But this is over two years since budget 2000 and measures indexation as a tax cut. Indexation accounts for $220 of these savings, bringing the actual cut to $1,042. But CPP premium hikes paid by each partner add $106 per year, $212 over two years, or $424 for the family. Now we're at $618 of actual tax relief over two years, or $309 less in taxes to be paid in 2002 as compared to 2001.

If this family plans just one flight after April 1st, when the new flying tax kicks in, add an extra (4 times $24) $96 to their tax bill. So they're left with $213 to split four ways. That's $54.25 or so each, 14.86 cents/day per person or 59.4 cents/day for the family. Don't spend it all in one place.

Meanwhile, Ottawa couldn't find one singly penny to cut in this month's budget. As a matter of fact, federal spending will increase 9.4% next year and over 20% over the next three years. Our debt remains at $547.4 billion and we continue to fritter away $110 million per day merely paying interest on this debt.