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Canadian here from Toronto. Taxes on the middle class have become absolutely ridiculous. Property taxes rise every year, electricity prices have nearly doubled

by chmln 10y ago

Canadian here from Toronto. Taxes on the middle class have become absolutely ridiculous. Property taxes rise every year, electricity prices have nearly doubled, and payroll taxes take away a third of your income from every paycheck. The vast amount of benefits in Canada go to the lower class, and disappear if you move up a tax bracket. The rich simply don't pay the taxes [1]. People here want to be friendly to the environment, but trusting inefficient bureaucrats to handle taxpayer money properly is obviously not a good idea. [1] http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/justin-trudeaus-economic-promises-off-to-a-sluggish-start/ http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/justin-trudeaus-econo...

ZeroGravitas 10y ago
I saw the claim earlier today, that Canada has the richest middle class in the world, which seemed believable. Can you explain what you mean about bureaucrats? Carbon taxes are the free market solution to this problem, replacing central decision making.
sdm 10y ago
>Canadian here from Toronto. Canadian in Vancouver here. > Taxes on the middle class have become absolutely ridiculous. I disagree. We are lower taxed than some US states, depending on which province you are in, and get much much more in services. > Property taxes rise every year Citation needed. They have actually dropped here. See: http://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/residential.aspx http://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/residential.as... > electricity prices have nearly doubled Citation need. BC Hydro's rate went up 4%, slightly above inflation. > payroll taxes take away a third of your income from every paycheck. That's odd as Canada doesn't have a payroll tax. Perhaps you mean payroll deductions for income tax withholding and pension/employment insurance premiums? None of these technically have to be withheld from your pay, but it is helpful to do so. > The vast amount of benefits in Canada go to the lower class, and disappear if you move up a tax bracket. It doesn't work like that. The middle class gets the bulk of the benefits (roads, airport, higher education, etc). Secondly, there is no case where making more money doesn't put you further ahead. All programs, like taxes, have progressive scales applied to them. This just isn't an issue.

by chmln 10y ago

ZeroGravitas 10y ago

I saw the claim earlier today, that Canada has the richest middle class in the world, which seemed believable. Can you explain what you mean about bureaucrats? Carbon taxes are the free market solution to this problem, replacing central decision making.

sdm 10y ago

>Canadian here from Toronto. Canadian in Vancouver here. > Taxes on the middle class have become absolutely ridiculous. I disagree. We are lower taxed than some US states, depending on which province you are in, and get much much more in services. > Property taxes rise every year Citation needed. They have actually dropped here. See: http://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/residential.aspx http://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/residential.as... > electricity prices have nearly doubled Citation need. BC Hydro's rate went up 4%, slightly above inflation. > payroll taxes take away a third of your income from every paycheck. That's odd as Canada doesn't have a payroll tax. Perhaps you mean payroll deductions for income tax withholding and pension/employment insurance premiums? None of these technically have to be withheld from your pay, but it is helpful to do so. > The vast amount of benefits in Canada go to the lower class, and disappear if you move up a tax bracket. It doesn't work like that. The middle class gets the bulk of the benefits (roads, airport, higher education, etc). Secondly, there is no case where making more money doesn't put you further ahead. All programs, like taxes, have progressive scales applied to them. This just isn't an issue.