How much do Canadians make?

[chemgear]

With the talk about "1% versus 99%" in the US, this was interesting.

http://www.financialpost.com/persona...362/story.html

So, how much do Canadians actually make?


Of the 24.5 million returns filed, 18 million Canadians reported total income of $50,000 or less. That’s not a typo. In other words, ignoring individuals who don’t file returns such as children, nearly 75% of tax-filing Canadians earned under $50,000 in total income in 2009.


Add another 5 million Canadians who reported total income of between $50,000 and $100,000 and you conclude that about 95% of individuals have income below $100,000 annually.


What about Canada’s highest income earners? 880,000 Canadians reported income in the range of $100,000 to $150,000, 333,000 reported incomes between $150,000 and $250,000 and a mere 174,000 of tax return filing Canadians or 0.7% had income over $250,000.

[OilKiller]

Yeah...we're gettin' screwed...

[Icon]

I smell pro-communism.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by chemgear

880,000 Canadians reported income in the range of $100,000 to $150,000

So I'm assuming 880,000 people in Calgary filed taxes

[ken0042]

So somebody making 50-100K per year isn't doing well? I'm glad somebody told me; here I thought I was doing OK.

[Icon]

Originally Posted by ken0042

So somebody making 50-100K per year isn't doing well? I'm glad somebody told me; here I thought I was doing OK.

Nope, slumming it.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

So I'm assuming 880,000 people in Calgary filed taxes

High Five!

[bizaro86]

The 8.3 million people who are non-taxable but still file returns to get benefits are in that number. And many of them aren't people you would traditionally think of as low income, or be concerned about. Two examples from the article, students who file to keep their tuition tax credit for future (presumably higher income) years and stay at home parents who file to get gov't benefits.

If you take those out that leaves only 16.2 million tax payers, of which ~10mm make less than 50k, so 61%. Not a huge difference from the "nearly 75%" reported in the article, but significant enough to be worth mentioning.

I also think the fact that 95% of people make under 100k isn't a big deal. That 50-100k bracket they talk about contains people who are making a pretty reasonable living...

[Ozy_Flame]

Don't you have to file over like, $15,000?

I'm going to imagine a portion of this number includes kids working part time jobs, living at home, and not living in 'poverty' by any means.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Don't you have to file over like, $15,000?

I'm going to imagine a portion of this number includes kids working part time jobs, living at home, and not living in 'poverty' by any means.

Exactly. I filed a tax return when I was 17 so I got the withholding (EI too!) back off the earnings from my summer job. Which was about 97% less than 50,000...

[darklord700]

"For the $50,000 Alberta income-earner, both her marginal and average tax rates (32% and 19.6% respectively)"

Could this be right? You don't hit the 32% bracket until you're over $80K. How could a $50K earner be in the 32% bracket?

[bomba]

I'd love to know the income distribution in real dollars (after taxes) for Canadians.

[bomba]

Originally Posted by darklord700

"For the $50,000 Alberta income-earner, both her marginal and average tax rates (32% and 19.6% respectively)"

Could this be right? You don't hit the 32% bracket until you're over $80K. How could a $50K earner be in the 32% bracket?

Federal rate at 50k is 22% + Provincial rate of 10%. See here:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/fq/txrts-eng.html

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

I am thinking that they are including students who are part time workers in the category of people making less than $50,000 per year - I would also be intrigued to see if they started adding people up who were on government assistance and programs like AISH (which is ridiculously low) and start to see the numbers drop or at least give a fuller picture as to the incidence of people making less than $50,000.

That isn't even beginning to mention the disparity from region to regions especially with regards to housing costs.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Agent86

That isn't even beginning to mention the disparity from region to regions especially with regards to housing costs.

Yeah, 50k in Calgary probably gives you the same lifestyle as 35k in the maritimes or 70k in Vancouver.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Agent86

I am thinking that they are including students who are part time workers in the category of people making less than $50,000 per year

It includes everyone who filed a tax return, including tons of people without a job at all.

[FlameOn]

So once you make 150k or more you are in the top 1% is what I'm getting from this article. Am I reading this right? 333,000 people is roughly 1% the population of Canada.

EDIT: Nevermind, answered my own question. So slightly over $150000 and you're in the top 1%. We're getting screwed.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

It includes everyone who filed a tax return, including tons of people without a job at all.

With statistics like these it seems as though the author is trying to justify their position rather than trying to uncover the truth of the situation.

That isn't to say that poverty doesn't affect people in this country because that would be an outright lie - but at the same time it doesn't break down the figures by age, region, education or experience. If the statistics really wanted to show some concrete information it could break it down by the demographics to see where the real issues lie - not with the mysterious 1%.

[KTown]

I didn't read the article but what you all have to realize is that I technically earn under $50K a year as well according to my T4/T5. I am a consultant, so I make alot more than that. I just keep money in my company and don't spend it. I invest with my company, etc.

Living off of 50K or less plus your significant others income is not that hard.

Why pay higher tax when you don't have to and it is perfectly legal?

If they looked at people who are self-employed across the country and are consultants/contractors than those numbers would be more balanced above the 100K mark.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by KTown

I didn't read the article but what you all have to realize is that I technically earn under $50K a year as well according to my T4/T5. I am a consultant, so I make alot more than that. I just keep money in my company and don't spend it. I invest with my company, etc.

Living off of 50K or less plus your significant others income is not that hard.

Why pay higher tax when you don't have to and it is perfectly legal?

If they looked at people who are self-employed across the country and are consultants/contractors than those numbers would be more balanced above the 100K mark.

Household numbers - two people working, either married or co-habiting - would be pretty relevant in determining how well people are doing.

Women are far more likely to be generating employment income in households today than probably any other time in history which also makes this quite a bit different than The Great Depression.

In the 1930's, the unemployment rate topped 25% but women were essentially not in the workforce, meaning the household was truly poverty-stricken. It's probably a generally much better situation than the 10% umemployment periods of the Reagan era when women were less likely to be generating employment income than today.

Times are tough but the 9.1% unemployment rate today, and 7.1% in Canada, certainly has a far different "hardship" feel across the country than the early 1980's, which I remember well enough.

Why pay higher tax when you don't have to and it is perfectly legal?

Occupy Wall Street is going to come looking for your Fat Cat Ass!!!

Cowperson