tax freedom day

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Shortly before unveiling the provincial budget in March, Quebec Finance Minister Raymond Bachand told reporters that the average family pays enough taxes in Quebec. We couldn’t agree more. This year Quebecers have to wait until June 17 (nearly six months) to celebrate Tax Freedom Day. That is, if the average family in Quebec had to pay all the taxes it owed to all levels of government in advance, they would have to hand-over every single dollar they earned up to June 17—Tax Freedom Day.


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If you’ve ever tried to calculate all the taxes you pay in a year to all levels of government, you’ve probably given up somewhere along the way. While most of us can easily decipher how much income tax we pay – it’s right there on our tax returns – it’s a lot more difficult to gauge how much we pay in not-so-obvious taxes.


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Monday’s federal budget was all political spin. Like in March, when the 2011 budget was first introduced, the Conservatives dubiously titled it: A Low-Tax Plan for Jobs and Growth.

But in reality, the Conservatives’ plan increases the federal tax take, increases government spending, and fails to provide a truly austere plan to balance the budget. It will, therefore, do little to improve economic growth and create jobs.

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Happy Tax Freedom Day! When Canadians return to work on Monday (June 6), they will finally be working for themselves. In other words, if we had to pay all our taxes up front, we would have to pay each and every dollar we earned from January 1 to June 5 to various levels of government.

Coincidentally, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is also scheduled to deliver the federal budget on Tax Freedom Day. All expectations for the budget are that it will look much like the March version, dubiously entitled A Low-Tax Plan for Jobs and Growth.

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Happy Tax Freedom Day! Monday, British Columbians start working for themselves.  In other words, if we had to pay all our taxes up front, we would have to pay each and every dollar we earned from January 1 to June 5 to various levels of government.

This of course, translates into an awful lot of money. In fact, the average British Columbian family with two or more individuals will hand-over about $36,600 in taxes to their federal, provincial and local governments (42.7% of their income).


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On Saturday June 6th, Canadians across the country will be celebrating Tax Freedom Day, the day the average Canadian has earned enough money to cover the total amount of taxes that they are obliged to pay to various levels of Canadian government. From here on in, Canadians are working for themselves and their families.