A possible oversight of the 2012 budget has caused civil servants to pay higher taxes, reports CBC News.

How? Group sickness or accident insurance plans are now treated as a taxable benefit. The result is that these government employees, who often travel to high-risk areas to do their jobs, are being forced to pay hundreds of dollars in extra taxes.

CBC News reports the following in income tax costs for these employees:

  • Three days’ travel to a country where Canada has no embassy: $240.​
  • Five months serving in a mission later evacuated due to a deteriorating security situation: Almost $900.
  • Occasional travel to another “high priority” country without a Canadian embassy, where the security situation is “extremely precarious”: $700.
  • Posting to a country with sporadic violence and civil war: $1,500.

Read more.

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