Graham Freeman's chronicles of emigration

I try to entertain and amuse through this blog, but also inform and educate. Hope you appreciate that :-)

Taxes. The way we pay for the services that we enjoy. Each country collects taxes in different ways, and spends the money collected using their own priorities. Some nations prefer to spend big on defence, some big on healthcare, some on paying for the leader's new fleet of fast cars. Whichever way, the citizen pays for it all, through taxation.

Because all tax systems are different, it's not easy to tell whether a Canadian is better off than a Brit for example, tax-wise. This is where the Tax Freedom Day (TFD) idea comes into it's own. There's a decent write up about it here. This year, the TFD was/will be:

• Canada : 27th June
• UK : 30th May
• USA : 11th April

This doesn't look too good for Canada, does it? It means that for almost the first half of the year, Canadians are working for the government, and the rest for their own pockets. If this goes past 01st July it will be a bad sign, not only because it marks half a year, but also because 01st July is Canada Day.

Taxes come in many forms, but mostly they are levied when money changes hands. You get paid, there's a tax. You pay someone for goods/services, there's a tax. Income tax and sales tax seem to be at similar levels as in the UK, but I cannot see how there's an extra month before TFD for Canadians. Ah well.

There are rumblings of an extra tax in Ontario on fast food costing less than $4. This would add about 10c to a cup of coffee at Tim Hortons! No way!!

Further discussion in the message board.