In Canada we debate everything from the weather to our "national identity". But according to a recent poll, our high tax rates have finally done what years of constitutional bickering has failed to do - achieve Canadian unity.
A Gallup poll published in the June 1999 edition of
Reader's Digest
, reveals a remarkable consensus among Canadians not only about the taxes we pay, but about the level of taxes we
should
pay. The poll revealed that 83% of respondents felt their own taxes are "too high", and there is an incredible uniformity of opinion among Canadians in all economic, age, ideological, and linguistic groups.
For instance, the percentage is virtually the same for taxpayers in British Columbia and Atlantic Canada (84%), almost identical for men and women (84% versus 81%) and very close between English and French (82% and 84%). Those who identified themselves politically as liberals and conservatives differed by only a mere 8 percentage points (87% versus 79% respectively).
Canadians with children living at home were especially dissatisfied; an astonishing 100% of those with three or more children between the ages of 10 and 17 say they pay too much tax, compared to 81% of those respondents without children at home.
Overall, just 15% of those questioned said the taxes they pay are fair. According to Gallup's research in the past, this has not always been the case. As recent as 1962, Canadians were almost equally split between those who believed their taxes were "too high" (47%) and those who thought they were "about right" (43%).
In the past 30 years, however, the percentage of Canadians dissatisfied with their level of taxation has steadily risen. By 1975, about two-thirds (66%) of all Canadians thought their taxes were too high while less than one-third (27%) were satisfied. But by 1987, the gap had widened to 72% dissatisfied while only 23% thought their taxes were fair.
The poll's most startling finding was when Canadians were asked what the highest total tax a family of four should pay - not just federal income taxes, but all the taxes they pay to federal, provincial and local governments including property and sales taxes.
Again, regardless of age, economic class, or political belief, respondents across Canada answered with surprising uniformity. The maximum tax burden Canadians think a family of four should bear is 29% of their income. The consensus over this figure was striking: 29% was the number suggested by those in their 30s and those over age 65, English speakers and French speakers, and self-proclaimed liberals and conservatives.
In grim reality, the average family of four pays over 48% of their income in taxes of one sort of another. In fact, respondents consistently underestimated their own tax burden by as much as 25 percentage points.
Also, contrary to conventional wisdom that says the poor and the middle class think the rich don't pay their fair share while the rich think otherwise, the poll showed that Canadians at every income level think we are all overtaxed. For instance, Canadians earning less than $30,000 believe a family of four earning $200,000 should pay no more than 34% a year in taxes.
What is clear from this landmark poll is that an overwhelming majority of taxpayers in this country are united in the belief that the present tax burden is unfair. It seems everyone is in agreement but the politicians.