Quote:
Originally Posted by DJones
Main thing I see is sales tax brings in the same amount of money as income taxes. In Canada, income taxes are 400-500% more. Which ya, 25% is 500% more than 5%. That tracks.
Using Alberta as an example, I think a 5% PST is estimated to bring in about 5 billion. So maybe 7% of government spending.
|
It's really not that different though, with the main difference being what I said earlier where Canada pays for healthcare and a good chunk of its pension-like costs (OAS) through tax revenue rather than social security.
Based on OECD data, 23% of Norway's tax revenue is from consumption taxes while 21.9% of Canada's is. Personal income tax + social security is 45.2% of Norway's tax revenue while it's 50.8% in Canada.
If Canada shifted 10% of its tax revenue from personal income taxes to compulsory social security payments (so it was 25% income tax + 25% social security instead of 35%/15%), the tax breakdown for individuals would be almost identical to Norway, even though nothing tangible would have changed for individuals in Canada.