Having recently completed your income taxes, which are but a fraction of your total tax bill, now is the time to ponder whether you are getting good value for your money.

The personal income tax - federal and provincial - that you paid in 2004 was only a fraction of your total tax bill. According to the Fraser Institute, the average Canadian family (two or more people) earned about $75,000 in 2004, and paid $12,300 in income taxes.

But on top of that $12,300 the average family paid an additional $7,800 in health care premiums, CPP and EI taxes.

That brings the total bill to $20,100.

But it doesn't end there. In addition to income tax, the health care premium tax, CPP tax and EI tax, the average Canadian family paid about $2,800 in property taxes in 2004. Not just homeowners, but renters also pay property tax, hidden in cost of rent each month. That brings the total bill to $22,900.

The Fraser Institute further calculates that the average Canadian family also pays about $6,000 a year in federal and provincial sales taxes. Here in Alberta the total bill would be closer to $3,000, because there is no provincial sales tax. But we do pay a 3% hidden sales tax on insurance as well as a 4% sales tax when staying in hotels and motels.

Adding $6,000 brings the total tax bill to $28,900 for the average Canadian family.

Canadians also pay business taxes, which are included in the price of every product and service that is sold. At the end of the day, taxes are always paid by people, even if the tax is initially paid by a corporation.

Corporate taxes are paid for by investors and shareholders in the form of lower dividends, by employees in the form of lower wages, and by consumers in the form of higher prices. The Fraser Institute calculates that the average Canadian family paid about $3,000 in corporate taxes in 2004.

That brings the total bill to $31,900.

Add to that various car and gas taxes for another $1,000 per family, plus another $284 in import duties - yet another cost which is not easily discernable.

That brings the total to $33,184.

Taxes on liquor, tobacco, and amusement amounted to $2,400 for the average Canadian family, raising the total to $35,584.

Further, governments collect royalties from natural resources which belong to Canadians.

Politicians spend this money as if oil and gas belong to them rather than to the people. It's not a tax you feel in your wallet, but it's a tax nonetheless.

This is especially true in Alberta, where our visible taxes (income tax, health care premium tax, provincial property tax, etc) could be much, much lower than what they are. Alberta's governing Tories love saying that our provincial taxes are the lowest in Canada. But that's only true if Alberta's oil and gas belong to the politicians rather than to Albertans themselves.

The Fraser Institute calculates that "Tax Freedom Day" comes at the end of June.

In 2004, the total taxes imposed on the average Canadian family consumed nearly 49 percent of income. In other words, Canadians lost almost half of their total earnings to support three levels of government.

The size of this tax bill doesn't tell you how much - or how little - value you received for your money. But, as the old saying goes, nobody spends someone else's money as wisely as he spends his own.

Within government, there are no direct incentives for workers to find ways to save taxpayers money. Powerful public sector unions don't take kindly to changes that would lead to fewer government employees paying union dues.

A bureaucrat who discovers a way to save taxpayers $100,000 per year won't be rewarded for having his idea implemented. In fact, he will be rewarded with higher pay only if he has more staff working under him, so the personal incentive is to fight for a larger budget, not a smaller one.