Tax perceptions

[Randy_G]

It seems to me there is a lot of conjecture as to which country's citizens pay the most in income tax. Has anyone here done any research as to the tax rates of various countries to get a real idea of who pays what ?? Or does everyone go by the perception (fostered by the media) that we pay the highest taxes in the world.

Well I have, with some interesting results. I looked at the US, UK, Canada, & Australia. I only looked at a single person, no deductions, I didn't include 'voluntary' taxes, such as that on booze and smokes (if you don't drink or smoke, you don't pay the extra taxes ), or things like sales taxes, GST's, VAT's, gasoline taxes (these vary too much in each State/Province). I also didn't take into account State/Provincial income taxes for the same reason.

We'll start off with the US Federal tax rate:

Up to $6,000 10%

$6,001-$27,950 15%

$27,951-$67,700 27%

$67,701- $141,250 30%

$141,251- $307,050 35%

$307,051 or more 38.6%

Next the UK rates: [amounts in (£)]

0 - 1,880 10%

1,881 - 29,400 22%

Over 29,400 40%

Next is the rates for Australia:

$0 - $6,000 0%
Nil

$6,001 - $20,000 17%
17c for each $1 over $6,000

$20,001 - $50,000 30%
$2,380 plus 30c for each $1 over $20,000

$50,001 - $60,000 42%
$11,380 plus 42c for each $1 over $50,000

Over $60,000 47%
$15,580 plus 47c for each $1 over $60,000

*Above rates do not include the Medicare Levy of 1.5%

Lastly Canadian tax rates:

$31,677 or less 16%
(less than $7,131.00 there is no tax payable)

$31,677 - $63,354 22%

$63,354 - $103,000 26%

$103,000 + 29%

Makes for an interesting comparison, don't you think ??

Cheers

 

[Rosco]

RDM...could you speak up a bit, didn't quite get that in the back of the room!!

 

[Randy_G]

Hey there Rosco, how did the move go ?? Wife and kiddies settling in to the ''big'' city ??

We aren''t the only ones who face the problem of mismanged taxes. I do believe every single person on the Earth suffers from that one. Just wanted to do a comparison with some other countries. It sure opened my eyes when I saw the tax rates, I can tell you. It''s one thing for folks to speculate, it''s another to actually see real numbers.

Cheers

 

[CTD]

I''d love to pay less tax - who wouldn''t?

So, in the States I''d pay 27% Federal (from $CDN), and here I pay 26%. I guess it''s the provincial / state taxes that eveyone talks about? I do know that between me and She-TD, who makes the same money as me, we pay $1100/month less tax in Ontario than we did in Quebec. True story, real numbers, no heresay.

The health care issue is a big one as well. For all the complaining one hears of how bad everything is (and I''m sure some people are indeed having a hard time with it), I just had surgery, and the total elapsed time from first doctor visit, to seeing the specialist, to out the door with a new scar was less than 5 weeks for a minor snag.

 

[RDM]

Was that the breast implants you had removed or the tummy tuck

 

[RDM]

OK GreatOne, yer not at work, your not answering yer fone at home, so were is ya........

yer not ignoring my calls are you

for you who do not know, CTD is refered to on the Rock as THE GREATONE, although I prefer to call him the SKYGOD

 

[CTD]

I''m home - haven''t been outside the door since last Friday. Maybe your fat fingers mis-dialed?

 

[cap]

All true CTD until you buy a home. Then you get to use the interest on your mortgage as a deduction in the US.

You''re the best sales man this site has. Have you asked for a commission yet?

 

[CTD]

Very true cap, but I''d hate to see what my recent surgery would cost!!

Thanks, I think

 

[cap]

Sorry CTD, you''d be covered there, the same as here. Your employer would supply it that''s all. There if you don''t work or have any coverage that way, then you have Medicaid sir. Our government sure likes to BS about the 14,000,000 uninsured Americans. Dead and sick bodies all over the place. Uninsured, yes, by the employers, but covered by Medicaid. You don''t have to wait for heart surgery either, like here in Canada. We''ve lost 4 in Manitoba so far this year. They''re sure happy that the road to Grand Forks, ND is well paved also. Last year 17% of Ontario''s patients were sent Stateside and Manitoba beats that figure. As they say in Grand Forks, "the greatest supporter of the State Healthcare Program are Canadians from Manitoba".

 

[CTD]

Point taken, Sir!

 

[Randy_G]

Yes cap there is propaganda from both sides about how good/bad either system is. There are lot''s of horror stories about people who have their health insurance not pay out (some are even true). There are horror stories about Medicaid as well, and how it''s no better, or worse than our system. Whether your company pays health insurance (and not all of them do), or they pay corporate tax, someone is still paying for that healthcare.

My point was to show the difference in Federal taxes between several countries. Every country has it''s ways of paying less tax, if you look deeply enough, get the sharpest tax lawyer, you can pay nothing in any country. If you want go to http://taxes.yahoo.com/ and you can download US tax forms, and you can see how much you would save. Frankly, I don''t see much of a savings. Just imagine how the working poor must like the IRS, the fist $6,000 still gets taxed. Whereas in tax happy Canada the first $7,100 doesn''t.

Cheers

p.s. I was wondering when someone would bring up the mortgage thing.

 

[Randy_G]

I just did a quickie calculation using the 1040 form from the IRS. I would have paid 29% more Federal tax down south than I paid up here in the Great White North. Had I factored in the deduction for my mortgage, that would have dropped to a mere 5% more down there.

Cheers

 

[inverter]

Only 26% in canada? Whoa must my province be rich

 

[cap]

Single I can''t quote on, but married I can. A man with a wife and two kids earns about $40,000 in the US before you start to pay taxes. In Canada it''s a little over $20,000. Do the monetary coversion, do the mortage interest deduction and THEN start to swear.....and not before. Authority? ...me....been there, done that.

You can''t compare the two tax systems. It''s like comparing the two Dollars. If you use Canadian ''yardsticks'' for that comparsion you get the wrong results. That''s never used and as a result makes their system better or ours better. Either result becomes false. We do the same when we compare our roads to theirs. Canadians will always say the roads in the States are better than ours. That''s true and not true. Improper ''yardstck'' again. In the States the Interstate system of highways is built and looked after by the Feds. The rest by the individual States and counties. Most Canadians travel the Interstate system or stay to the cities. Get off onto the State system of roads and you find out quickly who are the rich and poor States. Go through Arkansas on the Interstate and the roads are fantastic. Get off the Interstate and you find out that Arkansas is the poorest State in the Union. In Canada, all road systems are looked after by the Provinces with, some help by the Feds on occasion. So how can you compare? Where''s the commonality? That goes for a host of other things, but Canadians love to play that game and it doesn''t work, because it may show we are better off in something, when actually we aren''t and visa versa. Ergo, you are comparing ''apples'' to ''oranges''. That''s why I tell guys going to work in the States, to leave that Canadian ''yardstick'' at home. It doesn''t measure correctly and besides....it''s in metric anyway. Please use that yardstick though, for comparing women, beaches and beer.