Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyHolt
The highest income earners already end up paying a significant portion of the overall taxes (which makes sense) but if you want services brought up to the level we're seemingly demanding, everyone has to pay for it.
Low income earners, especially those with children, likely end up paying negative taxes when you factor the basic personal exemption, Canada child benefit, guaranteed income supplement, working income tax benefit and other programs into the equation. Whether these programs are successful in bring those out of poverty or not is debatable.
This only leaves the middle and upper classes to pay. Currently the top 10% earn about 34% of the income, and pay about 55% of the overall personal taxes. The top 1% in that group earn about 10% of the income, and pay about 22% of the taxes.
If we want better services, you can increase the percentage the top pay, but you have to increase the percentage the middle class pays as well. Since this isn't a popular political position given the increased cost of living, we're likely stuck with the services that we currently have.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1...pid=1110005501 |
Great data.
Top 1% = 22%
The 9% from 10-1% = 33%
The 40% from 50-10% = 40% of income taxes paid
Bottom 50% = 5%
It's interesting that the third group as a whole ends up perfectly proportional. Perhaps someone knows the exact income level/% group where its exactly proportional? I'm guessing about top 35%.
But the tricky thing is that the median income of the whole top 50% (ie. the top 25%) was 76,200 (2023), which is to say that income level is still a subsidizer and not a subsidizee (which is totally fine).
Taxing the 50th to 75th percentile range more sounds like a reasonable solution (and it is), but it feels a lot harder to say that when you assign the gross income levels: 44,100-76,200 (2023)