We Pay More In Taxes Than We Do For Necessities
Average Canadian spends more than $37,000 a year on taxes
Your money. Where’s it going? Who has their handout?
Turns out the taxman is the biggest taker of your hard earned dollars.
The Fraser Institute, in its Taxes versus the Necessities of Life report, finds the average Canadian family forked out 43.1 per cent of its $86,000 income last year to taxes of every description – more than was spent on housing, food and clothing combined. Those items ate up 35.6 per cent of the income.
In 2017, the average Canadian family earned an income of $85,883 and paid total taxes equaling $37,058 (43.1%). In 1961, the average family had an income of $5,000 and paid a total tax bill of $1,675 (33.5%)
The Institute says the average Canadian tax bill has increased by more than 2000 per cent since 1961. Housing costs climbed 1480 per cent in that time period, clothing by 732 per cent and food by 625 per cent.
Study co-author Charles Lammam, writing in The Toronto Sun, said while taxes fund important government services we shouldn’t simply assume that higher taxes always provide better government services.
“While it’s ultimately up to individual Canadians and their families to decide if they’re getting the best bang for their money, you must know how much you pay in total taxes to make an informed assessment.”
These calculations, he says, can help.
