A new report from the Fraser Institute suggests that despite Ottawa’s claim that it has already eased the tax burden on middle class families, most people are now paying more income tax, not less.
The government has, on one hand, lowered the federal tax rate from 22 per cent to 20.5 per cent for those earning between $46,000 and $92,000.
But at the same time, it has its hand in their other pocket by scrapping public transit credits, children’s fitness credits and education and textbook credits.
Of those included in the middle-income bracket, 81 per cent are paying higher total income taxes after the changes, averaging $840 more per year the study found.
The Fraser Institute further states that Ottawa’s current proposals on private corporations and businesses are likely to raise the overall income taxes of many of the same middle-income earners even higher by removing controversial small business tax shelters.