It might be because the GST comes up every time a cash register rings, but it seems the average Canadian’s tax burden has grown substantially over the past year. In fact, according to the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute, the average Canadian’s tax burden has stabilized at the 1990 level of just under 46% of income.
The institute tries to boil down into one comprehensible figure all the different taxes an average Canadian pays including income tax, sales tax, liquor and tobacco tax, import duties and others. It then determines how many days of the year the average family has to work to pay that tax bill. In 1991, Tax Freedom Day fell on June 15, the same day as in 1990. In 1961 it was May 3, and in 1974 it was June 8.
The tax burden may have stabilized between 1990 and 1991, but the trend is still pretty clear. For those who work and pay taxes, the fruit of their labors is increasingly enjoyed by the taxman and those upon whom the taxman smiles.
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