The Fraser Institute calculates that the average Canadian family paid $34,154 in taxes of all sort last year, including “hidden” business taxes that are passed along in the price of goods and services purchased.
This according to its annual report on the Canadian Consumer Tax Index.
The Vancouver-based think-tank estimates that the average bill for income taxes collected by governments was $10,616 in 2015.
The second-biggest category was payroll and health taxes, at $7,160, followed by sales taxes at $4,973 and property taxes at $3,832.
The other categories include taxes on profits, liquor or tobacco, fuel, natural resources and import duties, totalling $7,573.
The study’s authors conclude that visible and hidden taxes would have been equal to 42.4 per cent of the cash income for an average Canadian family in 2015, estimated at $80,593.
By comparison, the study estimates the average Canadian family spent $30,293 on housing, food and clothing last year, about 37.6 per cent of the family’s total cash income.
