Do Canadians pay 65% in tax?

Question

I know the answer is no. The reason I am asking is a YA Top Contributor claimed this to be true. She said it in response to someone enquiring about moving to Canada for free health care. I provided links to all necesary government web pages showing that Cdns certainly do not pay 65% tax (and actually taxation at almost the same level as the US), but this person (a non-Canadian) insists that I am incorrect and that it is just my 'opinion' that Canadians do not pay 65% tax.

Does anyone else believe that Cdns pay 65% tax? Where do rumours like this come from?

Answer 1

The rumour comes form the fact that we are known abraod, particularly by Americans, as having a wealth of social services which we must pay for via taxes (health care, education, etc...).

The other part of the rumour is that we do, in fact, pay a LOT of tax, but this also varies depending on where you live and your income level, if you have any capital gains to declare, etc.

In most provinces we pay hefty Provincial and Federal Sales taxes at points of purchase: for example you may pay an additional 11% on a chocolate bar you buy at the store.

The canadian tax system is incredibly complex. I have, by necessity, been trying to figour out exactly what people will pay given certain variables, but this is extremely difficult unless you have the knowledge and experience to do so. IT REALLY TAKES AN EXPERT.

65% though, seems quite high. While trying to build a template for checking profit/loss on a stock sale, I consulted a tax lawyer: usually what they do in an unknown situation is assume that everything is taxed at 50%. Indeed, I believe the highest combined federal and provincial tax rates only total to 49%, though i can't offer proof of this.

Remember Canada has a progressive tax system as well: you'll only pay the highest rates on dollar amounts above a certain amount.

You can find out pretty much everything here

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/fq/tx...

For the first part of your question well, that's the trouble with Y!Answers, and, by extension, the web 2.0 world: the correct answers, the correct information are not chosen by experts.

If web 1.0 was the wild west of the internet's history, then web 2.0 is the equivalent of high school: to a large extent, it's a popularity contest, and it's a place where style is beginning to eclipse substance.

Of course, we're all a part of it, but I like to think i'm causing only minimal damage by refusing to comment on that which I am not qualified.

Good luck!

Answer 2

It's probablly just a joke. Taxes in all are around 17%. Kinda high, but worth it for free reliable healthcare.