Taxes in Canada are Incredibly High, and seniors are losing money every day due to unnecessary taxes.

It seems that every political party before they are elected, promises in some way to make changes to the tax system but when they get into power, they never do.

The percentage of tax that Canadians pay is completely outrageous. While some taxes appear to be reduced, others are increased and new ones added, to continually increase revenues for our politicians to squander.

It’s the Government’s version of the shell game and their job is to get your money and give it to someone else to get re-elected.

The average Canadian now pays half of their income in some form of taxes, while the highest income earners pay as much as 75% of their income.

Not just for the few of the top income earners but for every Canadian.

You owe yourself and your family to keep more of what you earn. This article aims to start you on your journey on how you can have more control over what is rightfully yours.

That is why you need help from a financial planner who can implement a strategy to get CRA’s hands out of your pockets.

“A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Furthermore, since I first wrote this article, Revenue Canada has changed its name twice, with the last being Canada Revenue Agency. Just because a thief changes his clothes, address or name doesn’t make him an honest man of integrity, does it?

Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want, and the adults pay for it. Government debt is when adults tell the government what they want, and the kids pay for it.

Yes, the answer they always come up with is to steal more of our hard-earned dollars. They cannot manage their budgets, forcing us to manage ours by taking money out of our pockets!

It is very sad how poorly the Federal, Provincial, and local leaders are running the financial affairs of our country.

You cannot pick up a paper, or magazine, or watch TV without seeing another story about government debt, budget deficits, cut in service, and government infighting.

Governments have become more devious by devising new and hidden taxes to increase revenues.

Many do not realize that income tax may represent less than half of their total tax bill. These other hidden taxes account for over 2/3 of the average Canadian’s total tax bill.

Taxation impacts your financial future.

85% of all Canadians retire broke, dependent on friends, family, or the Federal Government for their primary source of income. According to the Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada, in 2009, most Canadians spent $1.71 for every $1.00 earned.

Taxpayers are asked to pay more each year while governments struggle to balance budgets and manage spending.

Many Canadians are deeply concerned about how public money is used and have lost faith in political accountability.

We watch as our government funds programs you would not fund in a free market.

In 1995, the Gun control registry was supposed to cost $85 million over five years but ended up being over $1 billion, and then it was scrapped. So, your taxes helped pay for this.

G20 Convention was supposed to cost $100 million but ended at $1.5 billion.

Then there was The Sky-Dome.

Pearson Airport, etc.

The Canadian Senate is neither elected nor accountable to Canadians.  For nearly 20 years now, politicians have dragged their feet on Senate reform, costing Taxpayers billions of dollars.

Canadians are seriously concerned about their government’s handling of public money and have lost faith in their politicians.

The Fraser Institute, Canada’s leading financial think tank, reported by the end of 1999, Canada’s gross debt was equal to $3.5 trillion, which at the time was equal to 410% of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP – all the goods and services produced in Canada, in one year).

In 1961 the government tax grab went from $1,675 in total taxes per average taxpayer to $30,213 in 2007. An increase of 1,700%.

The Fraser Institute concludes that taxes have been Canadians’ biggest expense in the last 46 years. Something is dreadfully wrong with the picture when the government is taking more of your money than you need to live.

The Federal Government has run deficits in 37 of the last 50 years, which has resulted in a federal debt of over $162 billion. This debt costs Canadian Taxpayers $26 billion a year in interest payments.

Our governments live beyond their means, borrowing dangerously and raising taxes to pay for it. Which means you have less money for your family.

The interest charges on Canada’s federal public debt eat up more than 1/3 of Ottawa’s total annual revenue.

Another major concern is the currency risk associated with the portion of this debt to foreign governments. Deterioration in the value of the Canadian dollar increases the cost of paying the debt in foreign currency. Can you imagine how much more we pay back debt in US dollars?

I remember alerting my clients in the 1990s that we were becoming too dependent on foreign investment to buy our bonds because our debt level was too high at $700,000,000.

Another alarming issue is that taxpayers cannot afford to pay billions of dollars each year to bail out Government employee pension plans.

Especially when Canadians start to use their RRSP funds, which are 100% taxable when they start to use them.

Did you know that?

The top man at CRA brags that he has an annual budget of over $4 billion and over 46,000 people on staff to make sure you pay the government the money they believe you owe.

The top taxman at CRA spent $40,000 of your money for a new washroom in his office suite in 2007.

CRA receives oversight from a board of 15 members, and these members in 2007 received over $407,000 EACH in fees and retainers for their part-time positions

In the year2005-06, the top 16 CRA commissioners and their six deputy assistants received a total of 3.3 million dollars in salaries.

The Auditor-General says there are 2.4 million more Social Insurance Numbers than Canadians. Still, they cannot put their finger on who they are scamming the system for between $377 million and $2.4 billion. 

Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge pays the greatest interest.”

Now you have the knowledge, contact me and start taking back control of your money. I want to help you pay fewer taxes and have more income for yourself and your family so you can live your life to the fullest.

Again I want to remind readers that I no longer sell Insurance or investment products; I only advise as a consultant, which I am allowed to do as I spent 35 years in the Financial service industry.