From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   Tax Freedom Day later in 2015 : CRA SOTW   
      
    Tax Freedom Day -- when average Canadians start earning income for themselves   
   and not the taxman -- fell on Wednesday this year -- one day later than in   
   2014 -- according to the Fraser Institute's annual and controversial tax   
   burden calculation.   
      
   In Saskatchewan, Tax Freedom Day arrived four days earlier on June 6, but two   
   days later than in 2014. But if you exclude natural resource levies, like   
   royalties, Tax Freedom Day in Saskatchewan actually happened on May 30. That's   
   the second-earliest Tax    
   Freedom Day in Canada, next to Alberta's TFD, which fell on May 16.   
      
   In 2015, the average Canadian family (with two or more people) will pay   
   $44,980 in total taxes or 43.7 per cent of its annual income. In Saskatchewan,   
   the average family will pay $47,897 in taxes, up $1,280 from last year, the   
   report said. The list of    
   taxes includes income taxes, payroll taxes, health taxes, sales taxes,   
   property taxes, fuel taxes, vehicle taxes, profit taxes, import taxes, "sin"   
   taxes and resource royalties.   
      
   So why does this year's Tax Freedom Day in Canada come one day later than last   
   year? Because the average Canadian family's total tax bill will increase at a   
   faster rate (3.1 per cent) than the growth in income (2.1 per cent).   
      
   "Governments across Canada are partly to blame for the increased tax burden   
   because many have raised taxes again this year," added Charles Lammam,   
   director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute.   
      
   The $1,353 net increase in the average Canadian family's total tax bill this   
   year includes increases in income taxes ($927), payroll and health taxes   
   ($312), sales taxes ($195) and auto, fuel and motor vehicle taxes ($55). In   
   Saskatchewan, the $1,280    
   increase is due to higher income ($1,651) and higher income taxes ($883),   
   along with increased health and payroll taxes ($289) and sales taxes ($186).   
      
   But a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance disputes the Fraser Institute's   
   finding that Saskatchewan's taxes are higher in 2015 than 2014. "In the   
   2015-16 budget, there were no personal tax increases and no new taxes,'' said   
   Jeff Welke, executive    
   director of the ministry's communications branch. "So it's a little unusual   
   for us to see that move (upward in tax burden)."   
      
   Moreover, the ministry takes issue with the institute's methodology that   
   considers corporate taxes and royalties part of the tax burden on individuals.   
   "The pulling in of non-renewable resource revenue would seem to be a bit   
   unusual given the export-   
   oriented nature of our resource industries,'' Welke said.   
      
   In contrast to the Fraser Institute's findings, the ministry says   
   Saskatchewan's tax burden compares favourably with any jurisdiction in Canada,   
   with the exception of Alberta. "We're second-lowest in the country" in terms   
   of tax burden for three    
   representative families used in the inter-city tax comparison in the annual   
   budget, Welke said.   
      
   United Steelworkers economist Erin Weir also disagreed with the Fraser   
   Institute's inclusion of corporate taxes and resource royalties as taxes on   
   individuals. "Royalties are payments to the people of Saskatchewan for our   
   resources, not a tax on us."   
      
   bjohnstone@leaderpost.com   
   (c) Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post   
      
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