Fraser Institute News Release: Top 20% of Canadian income-earning families pay 54% of all taxes
July 03 2024 - 5:00AM
The top 20 per cent of income-earning families pay more than half
(54.2 per cent) of total taxes including personal income,
sales and property taxes, according to a new study
published by the Fraser Institute, an independent non-partisan
Canadian think tank.
“Despite the common misperception that
top earners don’t pay their ‘fair share’ of taxes, the reality
is these households pay a disproportionately large share of the
total tax bill,” said Jake Fuss, director of fiscal
studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author
of Measuring Progressivity in
Canada’s Tax System, 2024.
The key to understanding ‘fairness’ is
comparing the share of income earned by one group compared to their
share of total taxes paid. By this objective measure, the top
20 per cent of income-earning families is the only group to pay a
disproportionate share of the total tax burden compared
to their share of income earned.
Specifically, the study finds that the
top 20 per cent of income-earning families pay a larger share of
total taxes (54.2 per cent) than their share of income (46.4
per cent).
“While the top 20 percent earn a large
share of total income at 46.4 per cent, they pay an even higher
share of total taxes (54.2 per cent)” said Fuss.
Conversely, the bottom 20 per cent of
income-earning families pay 8.0 per cent of total taxes while
earning 5.0 per cent of the total family income in Canada.
Indeed, the study found that all 80
per cent of income-earning families outside of the top 20 per cent
paid less in total taxes than they earned in total income.
“The assertion that the top 20 per
cent of earners in Canada are not paying their fair share is simply
not supported by the evidence,” commented Fuss.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jake Fuss, Director, Fiscal
StudiesFraser Institute
To arrange media interviews or for more information, please
contact:Drue MacPherson, 604-688-0221 ext. 721,
drue.macpherson@fraserinstitute.org
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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
think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality
of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by
studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of
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www.fraserinstitute.org