Allowances - Post Living Differential (PLD) [MERGED]

[aesop081]

Would you rather have 58% of my PLD ?

Mine is $0

Living here ain't cheap either.

Quit yur bitchin'

 

[FSTO]

Would you rather have 58% of my PLD ?

Mine is $0

Living here ain't cheap either.

Quit yur bitchin'

How long have you been in Ottawa? It appears that time in the centre has made you a little ornery.

 

[Pusser]

I think the important think to note is that it is 42%. 

Therefore, IMO....PLD is much more attractive sounding than it is anything.  Sure, looks like a great thing...only they are actually getting almost half of it back.

"We have posted you to an area with a high cost of living.  Here is XX dollars to help offset the cost to you imposed by the CF.  Whoops!  I need half of that back!"  :blotto:

^-^

Except that one of the factors calculated into the PLD rate is the fact that you will have to pay tax on it.  Thus, if it were tax-free, it would be less.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Would you rather have 58% of my PLD ?

Mine is $0

Living here ain't cheap either.

Quit yur bitchin'

Who's bitching?  I am questioning the logic behind identifying that the COL in some areas is high, so CF mbrs receive $ because of that, but in reality only seeing slightly over half of that amount in actual $$ per month.  Therefore, PLD looks much more beneficial on paper and in reports then it actually is to the mbr.

Maybe you missed this post:

What I noticed on my mid-Jan PS is that PLD (for me) is taxed at 42%.  Not to say I am complaining, I know mbrs in places aren't getting ANY at all. 

Just noting the rate it is actually taxed at.

 

[aesop081]

The  ;D was missing but, you can send me the half that you do get.

Between that and AICRA, you're doing fine.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Except that one of the factors calculated into the PLD rate is the fact that you will have to pay tax on it.

  Thus, if it were tax-free, it would be less.


So then in reality, the actual COL difference for Halifax is $364 a month from the baseline.  What the PLD system has done then, is calculated the gross amount of $ needed to be paid, before tax, so that the mbr receives the actual amount, which is -42% tax in NS??

Thus, if it were tax-free, it would be less.

Agreed.  Personally, I'd rather have it lower and tax free.  But thats me. 

So what is the reason for making it taxable at a higher rate instead of making it tax free at a lower rate, IF the amount of $$ in the mbr's bank account is the same on each pay?

I am NOT complaining I, personally, am taxed at 42%.  I get $ from PLD, and it helps alot.  I spent 5 years in Halifax making far less then I am now (on Cl B wages with no PLD).

My biggest beef with PLD was how, previous to this tax year, it was lumped in under "income" and now it will be a 'taxable benefit".  So my biggest beef with PLD in general actually was changed a year ago.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

The  ;D was missing but, you can send me the half that you do get.

Between that and AICRA, you're doing fine.

Agreed, I have nothing to complain about and am not on a *personal* level.  I lived in the same area for years making Cl B Sgt pay with no PLD, so I appreciate the extra $ per month.

 

[dapaterson]

So what is the reason for making it taxable at a higher rate instead of making it tax free at a lower rate, IF the amount of $$ in the mbr's bank account is the same on each pay?

CRA sets the rules for what's taxable and what's not.  The CF has to follow those rules.  Thus, for PLD, when the CF went to Treasury Board for approval, the tax implications would have been considered and integrated into the submission.

The CF doesn't set pay scales or meal rates or PLD rates or allowances - that's all done by Treasury Board.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Ack!

 

[CountDC]

They did it prior to 2010.

:rofl:

Looks like you missed the point and your circular reasoning adds nothing.

:rofl:  No circular reasoning there just logic - give it a try.

Looks to me like you have missed the point.  Perhaps a little info on msgs - they are to be as short and precise to the point as possible. The 2010 msg met this standard by stating rates have not changed instead of listing them all again and specified as you pointed out - until further notice - thus no need for another msg until there is a change. 

Releasing msgs is what we do in the military. And annual PLD msgs were the normal course of action prior to the freeze.

:rofl:
Yes that is what my whole military career has been about - releasing msgs.

What freeze? Do you have a msg on that freeze? I haven't seen one nor has any other clerk or for that matter anyone I know.


LOL EIS - I agree with you unfortunately CRA doesn't.

 

[gashbag]

My only beef with PLD is what I refer to as "the pot" and before I make people grumpy this is my guess so correct me if I am wrong........

The Pot is a predetermined, set amount of money as designated by the treasury Board. So when COL rates change across the country example the COL rises all across the board, they can't simply increase the  PLD rates for everyone but instead like robin hood "they take from the rich and give to the poor" so even though you COL increased, it may have increased less than somewhere else so your PLD goes down so theirs can go up.

Been a while since I've seen PLD, but last time I remember the rates changing ours went down so someone elses could go up.  I think :2c:

 

[MJP]

My only beef with PLD is what I refer to as "the pot" and before I make people grumpy this is my guess so correct me if I am wrong........

I think your totally wrong....wait no I don't think, I know you are.  Rates are determined through a fairly complex set of parameters with Ottawa as the baseline.  No one area gets more at the expense of another.

 

[PuckChaser]

Rates are determined through a fairly complex set of parameters with Ottawa as the baseline.

Is Ottawa the right baseline, though? It seems like it was just an arbitrary location chosen simply as it was the capital. The cynic in me wants to say Ottawa was chosen because the greatest proportion of CF members work in the NCR region and its easy to save cash when you lump all those members in with PLD as 0.

 

[MJP]

Is Ottawa the right baseline, though? It seems like it was just an arbitrary location chosen simply as it was the capital. The cynic in me wants to say Ottawa was chosen because the greatest proportion of CF members work in the NCR region and its easy to save cash when you lump all those members in with PLD as 0.

That I don't know, but judging from my friends that are posted there they think along the same lines that you posted.

 

[CountDC]

just a correction - Ottawa isn't the baseline, the NCR is.

My own opinion is the baseline should be the city with the lowest cost of living to really achieve what I understood the goal to be.  As it stands now if the col is higher than the NCR the member gets pld and if the col is lower then bonus for the member.

 

[MJP]

just a correction - Ottawa isn't the baseline, the NCR is.

My own opinion is the baseline should be the city with the lowest cost of living to really achieve what I understood the goal to be.  As it stands now if the col is higher than the NCR the member gets pld and if the col is lower then bonus for the member.

oops my bad very true NCR it is. 

Funny when they announced they were changing to a baseline for PLD, I thought for sure a slow growth city like Winnipeg or the like would have been constituted as baseline.

 

[GAP]

Is not the NCR and Ottawa one and the same as far as PLD go, or does stuff like Gatineau come into it?

 

[MJP]

Is not the NCR and Ottawa one and the same as far as PLD go, or does stuff like Gatineau come into it?

The NCR is a fairly large area which includes Gatineau.  I had a map with the geographic boundaries at one time but can't find it now.

 

[armyvern]

just a correction - Ottawa isn't the baseline, the NCR is.

My own opinion is the baseline should be the city with the lowest cost of living to really achieve what I understood the goal to be.  As it stands now if the col is higher than the NCR the member gets pld and if the col is lower then bonus for the member.

True that; I guarantee they aren't deducting any money from a CF member's baseline pay if they are living in a lower cost of living area than the NCR. Therefore anyone living in the NCR was certainly shafted when they (the majority of our CF posns) became the "ZERO". The beancounters saved a fortune didn't they?

 

[gashbag]

I think your totally wrong....wait no I don't think, I know you are.  Rates are determined through a fairly complex set of parameters with Ottawa as the baseline.  No one area gets more at the expense of another.

Thanx for the info, to most of us PLD is just another one of those great mysteries