The top 20% of income-earning families in Canada pay 53.1% of total taxes, according to a study conducted by the Fraser Institute. .“Despite the common misperception that top earners don’t pay their ‘fair share’ of taxes, in reality these households pay a disproportionately large share of the total tax bill,” said Fraser Institute Director of Fiscal Studies and study co-author Jake Fuss in a Tuesday press release. .The Fraser Institute acknowledged the key to understanding fairness is comparing the share of income earned by one group to their total taxes paid. By this objective measure, the top 20% of income-earning families is the only group to pay a disproportionate share of the total tax burden compared to their income earned. .It found the top 20% of families pay a larger share of total taxes (53.1%) than their share of income (45.7%). .Conversely, the bottom 20% pay 2% of total taxes while earning 5.1% of income in Canada..The Fraser Institute said the 80% of income-earning families outside of the top 20% paid less in total taxes than they earned. .“The assertion that the top 20% of earners in Canada are not paying their fair share is simply not supported by the evidence,” said Fuss. .A House of Commons Finance Committee report told Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in March to close the growing income gap with new taxes. .READ MORE: Freeland told to 'close the growing income gap' with new taxes.“Some witnesses called on the government to address growing income inequality,” said the report. .It recommended Freeland “take steps to close the growing income gap and generate revenue to fund poverty reduction programs by closing tax loopholes and ending the use of low-tax or non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, taxing extreme wealth, and implementing a tax on excessive profits, including windfalls associated with the pandemic.”
