If your brother-in-law borrows your lawn mower and then returns it on your birthday claiming it is your present, do you thank him

If your company accidentally deducts your CPP payment twice on your paycheque one month and then refunds it the next month calling it a "Christmas Bonus," do you say thanks

If your government unfairly imposes a regressive $528 "premium" and then refunds you $400 of those dollars as a "prosperity rebate," do you thank them

If it is a tax your government has been imposing for many years and in fact raised by 29 per cent in 2002, never before refunding you one cent, then perhaps you do thank them - ignoring the fact that you are still $128 in the hole.

But just as it isn't fair to refer to your own lawn mower as a birthday present, or to your own pay as a Christmas bonus, nor is it fair to call a partial refund of your health care premium a "prosperity rebate."

The Alberta government has a great opportunity in the next Budget to provide a real "prosperity bonus" to Albertans by turning this one-time $400 partial health care premium refund into a full-time, permanent health care premium refund. It already saw the wisdom in eliminating health care premiums for seniors and should complete the circle by eliminating them for all Albertans.

Eliminating health care premiums would be a more fiscally prudent option. The "prosperity rebates" provide a one-time payout of $1.4 billion, which includes millions that won't end up in the pockets of taxpayers, as they will be eaten up in administration, printing and mailing costs. The elimination of health care premiums would give Albertans an annual $884 million tax break, while eliminating the additional millions it costs each year to collect and administer the premiums.

Furthermore, the 2005-06 fiscal year will be the Alberta government's twelfth annual budget surplus, averaging $2.7 billion per year. Even in the "lean years" of 1994-95 the Alberta government ran a $938 million budget surplus, more than enough to off-set the $884 million tax break.

Not only would the elimination of health care premiums reward Albertans by giving them a substantial tax break, it would eliminate what is arguably the most unfair and most misleading of all government taxes.

Health care premiums neither pay for health care nor are they actually a premium. Health care premiums go into general revenues just like corporate taxes, income taxes and education property taxes. Furthermore, the revenue generated by health care premiums only covers 10% of the annual Alberta Health & Wellness budget, so your $528 per year isn't even covering a significant portion of your health care. In addition, with private sector insurance, premiums vary depending on the policy holders' usage and risk factors, Alberta's health care premiums are $44 per month regardless of anything other than your income and age.

And since it is nothing more than just another tax, it is made even worse by its regressive nature. A family of four, earning $35,000 per year pays 3% of its annual income in health care premiums. A family of four, earning $100,000 per year pays 1% of its annual income in health care premiums.

Doesn't seem fair.

Neither does calling a partial refund of your health care premiums a "prosperity rebate."