Proposed tax changes – sharing physicians' stories

In my last blog, I spoke about the fact that physicians – like all groups of professionals – have differing and varying opinions, and that’s a good thing. A healthy exchange of views and ideas is a good thing. This week, I want to remind everyone that when topics become heated and we are in emotional debates, I hope we will all try to communicate in a tone and with language that are respectful and understanding of our differences. This is especially true when we comment in the media or on social media, where words can easily be misinterpreted. We as physicians are united in our concern for the well-being of our patients – let’s keep that focus through thoughtful and respectful communications, and ensure that we are do not compromise our ability to effectively advocate for and champion our profession.

Over the last few months, I have received almost 200 e-mails from our members, sharing your stories and perspectives on the proposed federal tax changes in eloquent and powerful ways.

I have promised to highlight some of your letters, and I’m taking the opportunity to do that in this blog. Our letters come from Dr Jayden McIntyre of Osoyoos, a young physician just starting out in practice. His comments echo those of many new-to-practice physicians I’ve heard from. With the incredibly high amount of debt they carry – between student loads and setting up a practice – the tax changes are a devastating blow.

The other letter is written by Dr Bruce Rebner, who practices in Victoria and on Pender Island. Dr Rebner has been practicing for five years and shares his perspective on how the tax changes would impact him and his colleagues in similar situations.

Some people think that the issue around the tax changes are the biggest for those who are about to retire, and certainly they face a lot of challenges. But we are hearing in overwhelming numbers from young physicians who are devastated by what this will mean for them, many of them considering either reducing their hours, changing the nature of their practices or even moving elsewhere, things that would take place while we are struggling to meet patient demand in many underserved communities.

I hope you have a moment to read their comments. Let me know what you think either by emailing me at View Email Addresspresident@doctorsofbc.ca or by commenting on this blog (login required). In my next blog, I will speak a little bit about our proposed goals – what we are trying to achieve and what we can realistically hope to achieve.

Letters from Physicians

July 25, 2017

I am a newly graduated physician. At the end of my residency I had acquired a 275 thousand dollar line of credit and 40 thousand dollars of student loans. I have incorporated in order to utilize the tax laws for me to appropriately get out of debt in a somewhat reasonable time. I have started my own practice in Osoyoos, BC. The housing market here is as out of control as everywhere else in the province. I am deeply concerned about the liberal governments plan to "even the playing field". Who exactly is it helping? Making me struggle is helping who? I am deeply saddened by the very notion. I could write pages about this. Alas I will leave it at this.

Dr Jayden McIntyre
Osoyoos

July 28, 2017

As most incorporated physicians, these changes will have a significant negative effect on us.  I am 35 years old and have been practicing family medicine for 5 years.  My wife, also the same age is a family physician as well.  We have a young family with 2 children under the age of 2.  When we were in Medical School not too many years ago, the decision to pursue family medicine was made after much thought and discussion.  We ultimately love being generalists and having direct relationships with our patients. Part of being a family doctor for most of us though is having a business, “an office, staff, and overhead to manage.” To be honest, this isn’t the most enjoyable aspect of family medicine.  In addition, family medicine compensates on the lower range when compared to other specialties. We decided after adding up all the pros and cons that family medicine provided us with the best option to enjoy our work while accepting some its shortcomings.  These proposed tax changes that essential gut our corporations ability to save efficiently or income split during times where my wife is either on maternity leave or working less to care for our children will have a major negative effect on our financial planning. To be honest, if we knew that these corporation benefits would be removed so soon after starting our practices, it may have affected some of our decisions that led us to where we are today.  In addition, when it comes to planning our professional careers, in conjunction with balancing a family, the logistics of retirement planning and financial security are important topics to consider.  With these proposed changes having such a negative effect on these parameters, it will only be natural for us to consider all our options, which include reducing staff to lessen overhead burden (which will likely have a negative effect on our patients experience when they come to our office), the possibility of practicing in a different capacity than full service family medicine, or even practicing in a different country.  I hope the government realizes the impact of these proposed changes.  After 10+ years of expensive post-secondary schooling, we accumulated a large amount of debt- that we are still paying off today. We have numerous expenses affiliated with our profession that eat into our available income, not to mention paying large amounts of tax already.  These proposed tax changes that further attack our ability to earn and save a respectable and well deserved income will unfortunately push us further away from a satisfying career path.

Dr Bruce Rebner
Victoria/Pender Island