Yesterday was notable for more than just the opportunity to celebrate Victoria Day (or National Patriots’ Day if you are in Quebec). According to the Fraser Institute, Monday, May 24 also marked Tax Freedom Day.
This annual calculation measures the total yearly tax burden imposed on Canadian families from all three levels of government. Assuming you had to pay all of your federal, provincial, and municipal taxes up front, this means that you would have to give the government every dollar you earned up until Tax Freedom Day.
In 2021, the average Canadian family will earn $124,659 in income and pay an estimated $48,757 in total taxes. That represents 39.1% of their income.
“This year, Tax Freedom Day arrives a week later than last year because of the increase in tax revenues forecasted by Canadian governments in 2021,” explains Jake Fuss, senior economist at the Fraser Institute, who authored the study alongside Milagros Palacios, the director of the Addington Centre for Measurement at the Fraser Institute, and economist Nathaniel Li.
This year’s Tax Freedom Day comes a full week after 2020’s date, which landed on May 17.
