ยป What Your Country Can Do for You
Do taxes redistribute wealth from hard-workers to moochers or pay for public services that the wealthy disproportionately consume (eg: bigger target of property crime, children more likely to go to university, etc.)? The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has attempted to measure how much Canadians benefit from public services.
The CCPA says 82% of public service consumption is measurable by household; only 18% is indivisible things like environmental protection and national defense. People in households that make more than $50k/year all get around $15k/year (households that make less get significant transfer payments). Wealthier households tend to have more people in them, so they consume more public services at the household level.
Here’s the most detailed table the report provides for figuring out how much you’re getting:
| % of pop | per capita benefit | |
|---|---|---|
| Single senior | 4% | $25,386 |
| Childless single | 10% | $21,929 |
| Senior couple | 12% | $21,199 |
| Single parent | 6% | $20,416 |
| Childless couple | 15% | $15,407 |
| Empty-nester couple | 11% | $14,758 |
| Family | 41% | $13,332 |
| Other household | 2% | $16,740 |
| Total | 100% | $16,527 |
Multiply by the number of people in your household. Then subtract your total personal taxes from the Fraser Institute’s calculator. (I figure the left-wing bias of the CCPA will cancel out the right-wing bias of the Fraser Institute.) If you have a surplus, vote for more taxes; if you have a deficit, vote for tax cuts.
Let’s double taxes and give everyone guaranteed minimum incomes! Employment insurance is a wealth transfer tax!
Jack
12 Jun 09 at 1:44 pm
Am I allowed to just use last years actual income tax results for this calculation, or does the Fraser Institute’s calculator include all the GST and PST we pay?
Ryley
12 Jun 09 at 3:29 pm
Based on this I pay twice the tax that I receive. I always thought the government was screwing me. Now I know how far they have me bent over. Great I hate them and everyone that works for them now.
Fred
12 Jun 09 at 4:34 pm
The Frasor Institutes’s calculator includes GST, PST, gasoline taxes, property tax (which you pay indirectly even if you are not landed), alcohol taxes, cigarette taxes, import duties, and other taxes that I’ve never heard of.
Don
12 Jun 09 at 8:08 pm
@Fred: Does it surprise you that as a young, single, highly-educated working person you are paying more than you get?
Now figure out your personal taxes for every year of your life from birth till death and compare…
Jared
12 Jun 09 at 8:14 pm
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