By Dan Marshall

Canadians paying nearly half of their income on taxes: report

Aug 24, 2016 | 5:22 PM

NANAIMO — The Canadian Taxpayers Federation would like to see a return to the taxation levels of 1961.
 
In those days, Canadians were paying about one third of their income in taxes. 
 
A recent study by the Fraser Institute says families are now taxed to the tune of 42.4 percent.
 
Scott Hennig from the CTF says we risk losing some of our best minds to other countries with that kind of a tax rate.
 
“We’re no longer fighting with our neighbour down the road for hiring high skilled people like doctors and engineers, we’re now competing internationally. If you’re not competitive internationally with some of the first world nations, you’re going to lose top end talent and that’s tough when your tax bill is so high,” said Hennig.

Hennig doesn’t think most Canadians are aware of how much tax they are paying, especially with hidden taxes on things like gasoline and liquor.
 
“The biggest one that most people are aware of is their income tax, and that is the biggest chunk of all your taxes. But it only makes up about a third of your total tax bill. Your payroll tax, your EI, your CPP, your Medical Services Premiums, that makes up another 20 percent. But then you do have a lot of hidden taxes on liquor, tobacco, gasoline.”
 
According to the Fraser Institute report, the average Canadian tax bill in 2015 was $10,616.