Canadian news media are awash with coverage of studies purporting to show the growing burden of taxation, reinforcing a narrative that Canadians are paying high tax rates and providing justification for tax cuts. This study investigates whether these claims, and the popular anti-tax narrative they help underpin, hold up to statistical scrutiny.
This report looks at a key publication on taxation covered extensively by Canadian news media every year: The Fraser Institute’s annual “Tax Freedom Day.”
That report claims “average” Canadian families pay a tax rate of over 40%. Our study also looks at the trend highlighted by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) showing that the most affluent Canadians are paying a larger share of income taxes than they were in the past.
Employing more accurate statistical methods, this study finds compelling evidence that the Fraser Institute and MLI findings are problematic and do not provide an accurate depiction of typical Canadian tax rates.
‘The Brass Tax: Busting Myths About Overtaxed Canadians’ is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
