Ipsos-Reid conducted a poll from September 10th to 17th of this year on behalf of Royal Bank of Canada, to gather information about Canadians and the Tax-Free Savings Accounts.
New to the forum this year, TFSA’s allow each Canadian aged 18 years or older to put aside up to $5000 per year (subject to incremental increases with inflation), without paying any income tax on the interest they earn. The good news is 71 percent of Canadians know they now have a tax-free option.
However, a whopping 76 percent of those polled have not opened a tax-free account. Why not? Over half said they have no money to put into such an account, while 22 percent simply don’t know how the tax-free accounts work.
It’s a shame really, since tax-free savings has been a staple in the UK and the US for quite some time. Canada is long overdue in offering its’ citizens a break in taxes on our hard earned money. Hopefully, next year will see some improvement in our economy, and more Canadians will start taking advantage of the tax-free program.
