Tax Time - How much do you pay?

[Renegade]

Since there seems to be a very mixed perspective on the board on the effectiveness of taxes, as well as different perceptions on how much is "too much" for taxes, I thought it would be interesting to poll the board, esp since it is tax time and the numbers are fresh in our minds.

Feel free to post the amount if you so wish, or for anonomity just answer the poll. Please use line 435 of your 2005 return (ie your total payable). This does not mean your refund or balance due. It means the total amount of income taxes you have been assessed.

It would be interesting to see how much of the postions we take wrt taxes are a result of the amount we actually pay.

[Technocrat]

I still have tonnes of tax credits built up from university. Still not paying taxes and getting about 3 grand back from the gov't, plus 4 quarterly GST rebate checks.

I of course have paid out way more then what im getting back in GST and other sales tax, but hey im not complaining. The rebates help, especially when your young and you are just trying to buy the essentials for life on your own + a car for work... and yes all you crazy hippies i actually NEED my car for my job.

Personally when i finally run out of old tax credits ect. I won't complain. We live in one of the best country's on earth, if its gunna cost me a bit extra so be it. Nothings free, and im more then happy to pay my taxes. Taxes are taken off my paycheck just like everyone else. I see how much goes into the gov't coffers, right now though i get it back and it all goes into my retirement savings and savings for future downpayments ect. I can't understand why people bish so much about their taxes... its not all bad.

[scribblet]

Too damn much, this retirement isn't all its cracked up to be, I need more money !!!!

[Naci Sey]

Please use line 435 of your 2005 return (ie your total payable). This does not mean your refund or balance due. It means the total amount of income taxes you have been assessed.

Using that line alone won't give you an accurate picture, not without considering the fact that some people may have earned enough to pay CPP from self-employment but not enough to pay taxes.

[Renegade]

Please use line 435 of your 2005 return (ie your total payable). This does not mean your refund or balance due. It means the total amount of income taxes you have been assessed.

Using that line alone won't give you an accurate picture, not without considering the fact that some people may have earned enough to pay CPP from self-employment but not enough to pay taxes.

That depends what you mean by accurate. I wouldn't consider CPP contributions to be the same as income taxes. CPP are contributions directed to a specific purpose not general revenues. In the end using line 435 is simple and unambiguous even if it doesn't capture all the various taxes we pay.

[Drea]

As this is my first year (2005) earning big bucks (over 40 grand) I am quite shocked at how little I paid ($8000)! I even get 25% of it back because of write offs. I can imagine the business owner who pulls in 100 g's plus has enough write offs to pay next to nothing.

I love my accountant! For $52 she did my return and found tons of writeoffs. Next year I should get even more back because I know better how to keep track of my expenses.

If you have any income at all other than employment income, or if you are in sales, I recommend seeing a real accountant, not just H&R Block.

As we own a duplex, we can write off all repairs and reno's. As a sales rep, I can write off my vehicle, fuel, lunches, travel for training, etc.

[Naci Sey]

Please use line 435 of your 2005 return (ie your total payable). This does not mean your refund or balance due. It means the total amount of income taxes you have been assessed.

Using that line alone won't give you an accurate picture, not without considering the fact that some people may have earned enough to pay CPP from self-employment but not enough to pay taxes.

That depends what you mean by accurate. I wouldn't consider CPP contributions to be the same as income taxes.

That's my point. Line 435 is intended to include any CPP contributions payable by the self-employed. Someone may owe $0.00 in taxes from their s/e, but a non-zero amount for CPP.

[Riverwind]

That's my point. Line 435 is intended to include any CPP contributions payable by the self-employed. Someone may owe $0.00 in taxes from their s/e, but a non-zero amount for CPP.

The most you could pay in 'self-employed' CPP contributions is $3600. The ranges in the poll are large enough that it would not make that much of difference.

In my case, I own a business which pays corporate tax so line 435 underestimates my true tax bill.

[Renegade]

If the sample that answered the poll are representative of the board, it would seem that there is quite a spread of how much we each pay in income tax.

I'm a little surprised that given the prevailing resentment against income tax; I would have though more people would have been on the upper end of how much they pay.

[geoffrey]

If the sample that answered the poll are representative of the board, it would seem that there is quite a spread of how much we each pay in income tax.

I'm a little surprised that given the prevailing resentment against income tax; I would have though more people would have been on the upper end of how much they pay.

I think you'll find it us working students and those trying to gain a foothold economically are those that are most opposed to taxes. If you taking home $60 or $70k after taxes, your doing fine. A big tax bill to a university student is much harder to pay then your tax bill is.

[Renegade]

I think you'll find it us working students and those trying to gain a foothold economically are those that are most opposed to taxes. If you taking home $60 or $70k after taxes, your doing fine. A big tax bill to a university student is much harder to pay then your tax bill is.

The thing that goes against rationality is that as a student you likely consume far more services than the tax you contribute, and possibly more than the average taxpayer. As taxes fund services, cutting taxes will likely result in service cuts which in turn would financially impact students (eg higher fees). So it would seem to me counterintutive that people who pay low taxes would support tax cuts, but yet they seem to.

BTW, I don't think you can compare a student with a full-time worker. The student is generally cash-strapped because they are investing in their future for the posibility of long term economic gains. The fact that it is an economic struggle for the student should surprise no one, least of all the student.

[BubberMiley]

But as of this budget, students and everybody else making less than 36K can enjoy a tax increase from 15% to 15.5, while virtually all reports call it a sweeping tax cut. I can't complain though. I think my taxes will go down around $700 +-1%GST.

[Renegade]

But as of this budget, students and everybody else making less than 36K can enjoy a tax increase from 15% to 15.5, while virtually all reports call it a sweeping tax cut. I can't complain though. I think my taxes will go down around $700 +-1%GST.

I'm glad your not complaining, as 0.5% on $36000 is only $180, and that is for the full year. Since it is only applicable for half of the year, even someone making the maximium is only impacted by a whopping $90 bucks. Hardly enough for a night out.

[geoffrey]

But as of this budget, students and everybody else making less than 36K can enjoy a tax increase from 15% to 15.5, while virtually all reports call it a sweeping tax cut. I can't complain though. I think my taxes will go down around $700 +-1%GST.

Well my textbooks just became a write-off and scholarships won't be taxed.

So for students, this is a great deal. More than any other government in recent times has done for us.

[BubberMiley]

I'm glad your not complaining, as 0.5% on $36000 is only $180, and that is for the full year. Since it is only applicable for half of the year, even someone making the maximium is only impacted by a whopping $90 bucks. Hardly enough for a night out.

I'm not complaining because the tax cuts favour people in my income bracket and corporations. If I were a working poor schmo, I might be a little more peeved because, to them, that whopping 90 bucks can mean a lot. Many of them have never had the luxury of blowing a c-note on a night out.

[Renegade]

I'm glad your not complaining, as 0.5% on $36000 is only $180, and that is for the full year. Since it is only applicable for half of the year, even someone making the maximium is only impacted by a whopping $90 bucks. Hardly enough for a night out.

I'm not complaining because the tax cuts favour people in my income bracket and corporations. If I were a working poor schmo, I might be a little more peeved because, to them, that whopping 90 bucks can mean a lot. Many of them have never had the luxury of blowing a c-note on a night out.

Actually as I understand it, even the working schmo is better off under the Tory plan if you look add in the employment credit.

From the Globe and Mail:

This rate change means lighter-than-expected paycheques starting July 1 for many Canadians, working out to $62 more income tax this year and $124 in future years, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

However, the Tories moved to safeguard themselves from charges they're hiking taxes overall by introducing a surprise wrinkle in the two-year budget package: a break for working Canadians called the Employment Credit that should deliver about $155 in tax savings when fully implemented next year.

The measure will allow employed Canadians to claim a credit of up to $250 this year and $1,000 next year for work expenses -- without presenting receipts to Canada Revenue Agency.

"This is the measure that squares the circle and enables the government to say every taxpayer will be better off after this budget was tabled," says John Williamson, executive director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "Without it, some taxpayers would have ended up paying more."

PRIORITY ONE: 28 TAX CUTS

So I was wrong, it's not an extra $90, its an extra $62, and it is more than compensated by the Employment Credit. So, even working poor schmo ought to not to be complaining.

[BubberMiley]

Most people who have employment expenses aren't at the lowest rung of the income ladder. They're usually tradespeople, and they don't do too badly. People with minimum wage jobs in the service sectors don't usually have expenses that are directly related to their jobs. The bus pass credit might help them though.

[Renegade]

Most people who have employment expenses aren't at the lowest rung of the income ladder. They're usually tradespeople, and they don't do too badly. People with minimum wage jobs in the service sectors don't usually have expenses that are directly related to their jobs. The bus pass credit might help them though.

Actually if I properly understand the Employment Credit, you get a credit for the first $250 of employment income. No receipts, no proof-of-expenses. So even the lowest rung on the income ladder who earn employment income would qualify.

[geoffrey]

The employment credit starts out at $500. It pretty much just raises your basic exemption by that amount if your employed. Everyone that gets paid in a paycheque gets an extra $500 in tax free income.

Hope that clarifies.