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Tax Freedom Day helps put the total tax burden into perspective

June 10 is Tax Freedom Day, when Canadians start working for themselves and not government


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By —— Bio and Archives June 10, 2018

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VANCOUVER—Canadian families celebrate Tax Freedom Day on June 10 this year, according to the Fraser Institute’s annual calculations. Tax Freedom Day measures the total yearly tax burden imposed on Canadian families by federal, provincial and municipal governments. If you had to pay all your taxes up front, you’d give government every dollar you earned before Tax Freedom Day.
“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, and that’s why we do these calculations—to give Canadians a better understanding of exactly how much they pay to government,” said Charles Lammam, director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute. In 2018, the average Canadian family (with two or more people) will pay $50,464 in total taxes. That’s 43.6 per cent of its annual income ($115,724) going to income taxes, payroll taxes, health taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, fuel taxes, carbon taxes, “sin” taxes and more. Represented as days on the calendar, the numbers add up to more than five months of income—from January 1 to June 9. It’s not until June 10—Tax Freedom Day—when families start working for themselves, not the government. This year, Canada’s Tax Freedom Day falls on the same day as it did in 2017. “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.” Calculate your personal Tax Freedom Day using the Fraser Institute’s online calculator at [url=http://www.fraserinstitute.org]http://www.fraserinstitute.org[/url]. Tax Freedom Day for each province varies according to the extent of the provincially levied tax burden.

2018 Provincial Tax Freedom Days (earliest to latest)

  • Alberta -- May 22
  • Saskatchewan -- June 1
  • Prince Edward Island -- June 2
  • Manitoba -- June 3
  • British Columbia -- June 5
  • Ontario -- June 9
  • New Brunswick -- June 10
  • Nova Scotia -- June 15
  • Quebec -- June 21
  • Newfoundland & Labrador -- June 26
  • CANADA -- June 10
MEDIA CONTACT: Mark Hasiuk, Senior Communications Specialist, Fraser Institute, mark.hasiuk@fraserinstitute.org



Fraser Institute -- Bio and Archives | Comments

The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of 86 think-tanks. Its mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit fraserinstitute.org.

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