With this year's tax deadline approaching rapidly, many people's thoughts are turning to the shell-shocking amount of money the government routinely takes from our paycheques.
On that front, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has some good news and some bad news.
First, the bad news: Canadians’ taxes are going up. Despite the Harper government’s vocal championing of low tax policies, and some high-profile tax cuts, the total tax burden on labour in Canada has risen over the past three years, the OECD’s Taxing Wages study found.
Now the good news: Canadians pay low taxes compared to their peers in 33 other OECD countries, the study found. Yes, you read that correctly: Canada has low taxes.
The tax burden on labour is actually slightly higher in the U.S. than it is in Canada: 31.3 per cent in the U.S., compared to 31.1 per cent in Canada. The OECD average is 35.9 per cent.