Do you know how much your family is paying in taxes? Do you know what percentage that is of your family income, especially when compared with how much you’re paying for basic necessities? A recent report from the Fraser Institute shows some statistics that may alarm you.
According to the Institute, families are currently using half of their household income – 43 per cent – to pay taxes. Sadly, only 37 per cent of that income is going towards basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing. This is a major shift in trends, says Charles Lammam, associate director of the Institute, as during the early 60s, families were using approximately only 33 per cent of their family income on taxes.
“Taxes are far and away the largest and fastest increasing expense in the average household budget,” Lammam says.
But why are they so high?
One reason for it is because Canadians are simply paying too much in taxes. In other words, they’re paying for taxes that they may not need to. Another reason, hidden taxes make it even more difficult for Canadians to figure out just exactly how much they’re paying. And if they don’t know what they’re paying, it’s harder to find ways around the expense.
“It’s very difficult, first, to keep track of some of the taxes you pay,” says Lammam. “Some of the taxes are hidden.”
But another, bigger, reason why Canadian families are being hit so hard by the taxman? Governments at all levels are simply spending too much. And they must tax the people in order to make up for that spending. And until that stops, Canadians can continue to expect to give more and more of their budget to the government.
“The outlook for taxpayers is bleak, since deficits must one day be paid for by working Canadians unless governments take serious steps to reduce spending,” he says.
The question is, what are the chances of that happening?
