The BC budget is out and so are the interprovincial tax comparisons contained therein. As is par for the course, one must sift through the assumptions to get a grip on where British Columbians are vis-à-vis other Canadians, but let's start with the budget section that attempts to tally up a whole whack of provincial taxes (in addition to income tax). And it is here where the numbers get cute.

For example, according to the BC budget, a two-income family of four earning $30,000 will pay total provincial taxes of $3,739 in BC, $2,294 in Alberta, and $4,445 in Ontario. Isn't that nifty? British Columbians at that income pay more than Alberta, which everyone would assume, but less than tax-cutting Ontario. How can that be?
Simple. The BC government assumes that $30,000 double-income couple with two kids has a mortgage. Hands up all who think a bank will grant a mortgage at that income level anywhere in greater Vancouver, metropolitan Toronto, or even Calgary.

So, subtract the property tax burden from the comparison - but keep some of the other taxes included in the example used by the government - and here are the new figures: That $30,000 family will pay $1,941 in provincial taxes in BC, only $320 in Alberta, and $1,724 in Ontario.

It's curious that the BC government would include property taxes in the interprovincial tax burden, which are half set by municipalities, not provincial governments, but then not include other municipal taxes.

For example, the BC hotel tax ranges from eight percent to ten percent (depending on the municipality), as compared to five percent in Alberta and Ontario. Heck - if the provincial government wants to include municipal taxes in comparisons so as to make the BC burden look less punishing vis-à-vis other provinces, why not go all the way and include civic user fees, library fines, the price of parking tickets, and the AirCare charge in greater Vancouver?

Also curious is the omission of sin taxes in the per-family comparison. If you smoke, the tax difference will widen between BC and the two other have provinces and if you drink, the tax gap will again widen between BC and Alberta, but shrink somewhat between BC and Ontario.

On a positive note, the BC budget does, for the first time, contain a straight provincial income tax-only comparison. In that chart, a $20,000 income pays $1,008 in provincial income tax in BC, $780 in Ontario, and only $710 in Alberta. A $60,000 income pays $5,401 in BC, $4,264 in Ontario, and $4,710 in Alberta.

And while British Columbia's government thinks really hard about how to attract top researchers, computer geeks, and doctors to the province - here's an idea - how about not killing them with exorbitant taxes at the high end? After all - it's a bit silly to try and jack up payments to doctors only to thwack them with punishing top marginal tax rates. Someone that makes $150,000 will pay $22,635 in provincial tax in BC, $19,760 in Ontario, and only $13,710 in Alberta - almost a full $9,000 less than BC. British Columbians can be thankful that at least they're not in Quebec, which would take $28,660 at that level (almost $15,000 more than Alberta).

The general summary in personal provincial taxation is this: Alberta's personal taxes are lower than Ontario's at the lower and higher ends of the income scale. Ontario's middle-income earners are lighter taxed than are Albertans, but both Ontario and Alberta both have lower provincial personal taxes at the low, middle and high incomes when compared with BC.