Last Friday (June 9) was Tax Freedom Day, marking the day the average Canadian family has made enough income to pay all its taxes for this year, according to the Fraser Institute.
If families had to pay its total tax bill up front, they would have worked until June 8 to pay the total tax bill imposed on them by all three levels of government. It’s not until June 9 that families “start working for themselves, not the government,” according to the institute.
"Tax Freedom Day helps put the total tax burden into perspective and helps Canadians understand just how much of their money they pay in taxes every year," said Charles Lammam, director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute.
It comes a day later this year, as the average family’s taxes are expected to increase at a faster rate this year (2.4%) compared with income growth (2.2%).
The institute used $108,674 as the average annual household income for its calculations and found that families will pay, on average $47,135, in total taxes. This is compared with respective figures of $105,236 and $45,167 reported last year.
That's 43.4% of its annual income going to income taxes, payroll taxes, health taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, fuel taxes, carbon taxes, and "sin" taxes like alcohol and tobacco.
"It's difficult for average Canadians to add up all the taxes they pay in a year because the different levels of government levy such a wide range of taxes,” said Lammam.
“That's why we do these calculations – to give Canadians a better understanding of exactly how much they pay to government."
