58% of Canadians believe personal income tax rates should not exceed 50%

A Poll of Canadians on the Fair Share of Taxes

Summary

• A current narrative, echoed by the federal government, is that the “rich” don’t pay their fair share of taxes. To test this notion, Leger Marketing conducted a poll on behalf of the Fraser Institute to solicit the opinions of Canadians on appropriate personal income tax rates and tax fairness.
• Current top marginal personal income tax rates on personal income are greater than 47% in all provinces, and exceed 50% in all but two provinces.
• Half of Canadians (50%) surveyed felt that the highest personal income tax rate charged on an extra $100 of income should be 20% or less. More than three quarters (78%) believed the tax rate should not exceed 50%.
• The majority (70%) of respondents believed that some Canadians don’t pay their fair share of taxes, but only 35% thought that high-income earners should pay more in taxes.
• Roughly half (49%) of surveyed Canadians felt that the highest marginal personal income tax rate levied on the top 20% of income-earning households should be at or below 45%; 58% of respondents said that top tax rates should not exceed 50%.
• Results from the survey demonstrate that only a minority of Canadians want high-income earners to pay more in total taxes, suggesting a discrepancy between current tax policy and Canadians’ taxation preferences.