wkmc: DS,
It would seem on the one hand right now that the US "might" be better tax wise than Canada but I'm not one to automatically think that. In the US, the tax burden can vary from locale to locale as local officals tax in different ways but the one thing that rarely gets included in the US because both parties do it equally well is factor in inflation and public debt burden. When you take into account the actions of State Capitalism using the public trough for both corp. and public welfare means (yeah big business is behind public welfare so don't kid yourselves) and this debt load being passed onto the taxpayer even in future payments or the debt monetized as reflected in inflation of the value of our currency, I believe that the US may indeed be worse off than Canada when it comes to true gov't economic burden. If anything, Canada may be a bit more honest in keeping their true burden up front with direct taxation so at least you can see it coming. Canada is also in better shape because they didn't use debt load to finance now and shift the burden of payments to future taxpayers like the US has or at least not to the same scale. That's how I see it anyway and a credit to you guys for not doing it.
Canada also has another advantage over America not often considered and yet I believe it is a major factor. Kirkpatrick Sale who is a left/liberal leader in the US Sucession movement did
a study of nationstatesand regardless of left/right/middle, he looked at what worked and what were the common factors with a view of individual freedom and economic stability and burden on the citizen. He found that not only now but historically, size does matter and size towards a smaller nationstate model. Not geographic territory but numbers of citizens was the key factor. Now Canada although smaller in population than the US does pretty good in overall scheme, there are even smaller countries population wise that does even better than Canada. IMHO, regardless of one's political POV, I think it's a must read and worth the few minutes to do so.
The thing is wkmac, just like in the US, every province has thier own provincial income taxes and sales taxes.
I must admit, DS does live in the largest populated province in Canada, but have recently been getting into higher and higher debt.
Unlike Alberta, that is
still debtfree, we don't pay the taxes DS does.
Only 5% GST here, which excludes tax from from most groceries. Junkfood , like coke or chips are taxed at 5%. Or resturant food, (as it is a service).
My income was only $33.000 , being 2 months totally without pay, and ofcourse the low pay from employment insurance.
I paid $3600 in taxes, but received a refund of $1700. They will also issue me 4 quartely GST rebate (refund) checks of $94.50 each, totalling : $378.00. (my low income excludes me from paying GST tax).
So, in the end, I paid just over $1500 on an income of $33 K.
They do help the low income citizens, and tax the richer more.
Keep in mind though, provincial income taxes and sales taxes are lower here, then any other province in Canada.
To your opinion, bigger is better :
Well, to be honest, with the small population we have, it's not easy to have the 2nd largest country in the world.
We have more miles of roads, then any other country on earth. They need to be built and maintained.
Also, most likey the most forest fires, that need to be fought.
Inuits living up north, that we need to supply housing, roads, welfare, schools, and food to, including healthcare. Some of these people need to be flown into the the south (of Canada) for emergency treatment.
And miles and miles of snow removal each year. The average Canadian city spends over $1 Mill a year alone. Add to that the miilions of miles of highways.
And when the ice and cold defrosts in Spring, potholes pop up everywhere, that need to be filled and fixed.
Basically, in a nutshell, a very large place to housekeep.
Smaller countries with a huge population, should do far better. Like West Germany once did. Or Switzerland still does.
I guess everyone does complain about high taxes. In every country. But considering a private healthinsurance would cost anywhere from $700 to $1200 a month (from net pay), like it does in the US for those that aren't covered by employment, we really couldn't afford it.
Thats another mortgage or rent payment per month !
So, by all means, DS is better off, paying higher taxes, which are by no means, the highest in the world... actually, maybe just a few percentages higher then those of the US.
Forsure, we have the better deal.
