Joe and Joanne Taxpayer show up at work at 8am. By the time they sip their first cup of coffee at 10:13, they spent over half the morning working for Ottawa. Ninety minutes later, they paid their taxes to the province. The last seventeen minutes of the morning covered their dues to municipal government.

It's enough to make you want to take the morning off.

After lunch, Joe and Joanne Taxpayer were finally released of their obligation to the government and begin to earn bread for their kin.

This bleak scenario represents the daily grind for the average Manitoba taxpayer, who toils away for nearly half the year to pay tribute to the three levels of government.

The Fraser Institute announced that Tax Freedom Day for Manitoba fell on June 27th this year. It's a celebration of the moment when taxpayers start working for themselves and their families. As Fraser notes, "all money earned prior to this day is required to pay the taxes imposed by the three levels of government - federal, provincial, and municipal."

A Manitoba family with two or more individuals earning an average income of $61,474 will pay 48.4 per cent of their income to all levels of government in 1999

Tax Freedom Day for the whole country will fall on July 1st, Canada Day. Far from a celebration, Tax Freedom Day is more like a wake, morning the loss of six months of labour.

Compared to other provinces, Manitoba's Tax Freedom Day ranked sixth, the same as last year. Like the Maritimes, Manitoba's ranking would be much poorer had it not been for the $970 million in equalization payments doled out as charity from the 'have provinces' to Manitoba this year.

Every other province improved their standing this year over last with the exceptions of Nova Scotia and Manitoba. Despite equalization payouts from the wealthier provinces, Ontario and Alberta improved their standing by six and five days respectively.

In 1999, the average Manitoba family will earn $1,175 more than last year, but must also pay an extra $679 in taxes. That represents the highest tax grab in the country. The net effect is a $496 increase in after-tax income, an amount completely wiped-out by inflation.

Despite alleged federal and provincial income tax cuts in the last provincial budget round, Manitoba taxpayers are no better off than last year when Tax Freedom Day fell on June 27th as well. In 1992, Tax Freedom Day for Manitoba occurred on June 1st, and in 1985 it fell on May 5th.

Meanwhile the province will net an extra $166 million personal income tax windfall over last year. From income taxes to sales taxes to payroll taxes to property taxes to gas taxes to user fees right through to bracket creep, Manitobans are trounced by taxes. We continue to pay more but get less in services. It is precisely this 'value' issue that is driving Canadian tax rage.

The CTF continues to advocate for broad based tax relief as the best means to spur economic growth, job creation, and allow Canadians to plan for their futures by investing and reducing record levels of personal debt.

Marking six months of labour for government hardly seems worth celebrating. Better the joke should fall on the government than the taxpayer by celebrating Tax Freedom Day three months into the year - on April Fools Day.