加拿大人获得平均223元减税额

qwlimited · 发表于 2007-12-29 07:59

OTTAWA -- Most taxpayers will pay hundreds of dollar less in taxes in 2007 than in 2006, with the average reduction being $223, a savings that will rise to an average of $272 in 2008, a national tax watchdog group has calculated.

"Due to retroactive tax changes announced in the fall, coupled with changes that take effect in the new year, almost all taxpaying Canadians will pay the tax man less in 2007 and 2008," said John Williamson, Canadian Taxpayers Federation federal director.

Families will save even more on average thanks to a new child credit worth $300 per child and a higher spousal exemption, which were also enacted for the '07 tax year, the organization added.

And that doesn't include the savings in 2008 from the one-point reduction in the GST, which will save the typical Canadian family anywhere from $150 to $200 a year.

"But taxpayers shouldn't clap too loudly as Ottawa's 'new' 15% rate simply restores the lowest income-tax rate to what it was in 2005 before the Conservative finance minister raised it in his first budget," Mr. Williamson noted in releasing the organization's year-end compilation of tax changes Thursday.

"Jim Flaherty should be working to cut personal income-tax rates, not patting himself on the back for returning them to the level they were when he came into office," he said, referring to ongoing reminders by the minister, most recently in a string of year-end media interviews, of the tax reductions he has brought in.

Provincially, the big winners will be taxpayers in Newfoundland, Quebec and British Columbia, and the only loser is New Brunswick, it said.

The analysis of both federal and provincial tax changes includes projected income, payroll and sales-tax changes kicking in on Jan. 1, 2008, as well as personal income-tax changes which were announced in Flaherty's fall economic statement and which were made retroactive to Jan. 1, 2007, such as reduction in the bottom income-tax rate to 15% from 15.5% and the $671 increase in the basic personal exemption -- the amount a person can earn before they pay federal income tax -- to $9,600 from $8,929.

But how much relief one gets also depends on what one earns.

The income tax savings for the 2007 year, which will show up when individuals file their tax returns in the spring, range from $121 for someone with $15,000 in income to $223 for those earning $45,000 to $100,000.

The additional income and payroll-tax savings for 2008 range from $44 for those earning $15,000 to $115 for those earning $80,000 to $100,000.

The additional tax reductions in 2008 are due mostly to the indexation of the personal income tax brackets, but also include a "miniscule" reduction in EI premiums offset by a slight increase in the maximum CPP premium reflecting an increase in the level of pensionable earnings.

Employees will pay a maximum EI premium of $711.03 in 2008 and employers $994.62 for a total EI payment of $1,705.65.

"With a $3.3-billion surplus in the EI fund last year, Ottawa should cut rates and match EI revenues to EI payments, allowing for only a modest reserve, and harmonize the employer rate with those of employees," said Mr. Williamson. "Cutting this tax will help job creation and give manufacturers a break at a time when they are struggling with dollar parity."

"The net payroll tax bill on workers will increase because the EI tax reductions will be gobbled up by a higher EI threshold and rising CPP payments," he said, calculating that in 2008 the average worker will pay $50.43 more in payroll taxes and employers $46.02 more.

Meanwhile, the GST tax cut is a $5-billion annual tax savings, it noted.

"While some have criticized cutting the GST, it is a broad-based tax cut that puts $5-billion back in the pockets of over-taxed Canadians," Mr. Williamson said.

Three provinces are also offering additional tax relief in the new year, it said.

Quebecers will get the largest total income and payroll tax savings -- $500 per taxpayer -- thanks to a "substantial increase" in the taxable income thresholds, it said.

Newfoundland reduced all provincial income-tax rates and has eliminated its provincial surtax, boosting the total federal-provincial tax saving for the typical taxpayer there to $420, not counting the GST saving.

And British Columbia has cut all but its top provincial income tax rates giving the average taxpayer there $223 in total income and payroll tax savings.

However, New Brunswickers earning more than $52,700 will pay more income tax for this year because of an increase in provincial tax rates, and while individuals with incomes below that pay less thanks to federal tax reductions, their savings were smaller than other Canadian taxpayers.

Tax changes for various provinces, households and income levels for 2007 and 2008 can be accessed through the federation's website at www.taxpayer.com.

"While the tax relief announced in Ottawa's annual economic statement was a good start, Canadians remain over-taxed," Williamson said, citing international and federal Finance Department statistics it said show Canada's personal income-tax burden remains the highest of the Group of Seven major industrial nations.

It calls for broad-based tax relief, suggesting Mr. Flaherty in his upcoming budget reduce two middle rates of 26% and 22% by a point each, and raise the income threshold at which the top rate of 29% kicks in to $200,000. Mr. Williamson noted that was what the former Liberal government promised in the last election campaign.

Politically, he noted that Stephane Dion's Liberals would have a hard time voting against his party's own tax proposal if it were in the next Conservative budget.

Me. Flaherty, however, has warned that further tax relief may be limited by the looming economic slowdown and the loss of tax revenues from existing tax cuts.

烟雨江南 · 发表于 2007-12-29 11:45

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[加国新闻] 加拿大人获得平均223元减税额