Nova Scotia has a High Provincial Personal Tax Burden Compared to Other Provinces

As tax filing deadline looms, The Conference Board of Canada measures personal and business tax burdens

OTTAWA, May 2, 2016 /CNW/ - Nova Scotia is second only to Quebec for having the highest provincial tax burden on individuals among the provinces, but is slightly more competitive when it comes to taxation on businesses, according to The Conference Board of Canada new report, Benchmarking Provincial Tax Burdens.

Highlights

• Nova Scotia has one of the highest provincial personal income tax burden (as a share of household income) for all earners.
• Because Nova Scotia has a harmonized value-added sales tax, it has a lower sales tax burden on businesses as a share of gross output in the business sector than provinces with conventional retail sales taxes.

This report compares the provincial tax burden on businesses and individuals among provinces based on the calculation of average provincial tax burden ratios.  The analysis is based on data through 2011 for business taxation and 2012 for personal taxation (which were the most recent data available at the time this report was completed).

"Nova Scotia is among the provinces with the highest provincial personal income tax burden," said Julie Adès, Senior Economist. "In all main income brackets, Quebec, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia have the highest implicit personal income tax rates."

Because Nova Scotia has a harmonized value-added sales tax, it has a lower sales tax burden on businesses as a share of gross output in the business sector than provinces with conventional retail sales taxes. However, Nova Scotia's ranking on business taxation slips because of a relatively high property tax burden (as a share of gross output in the business sector).

This report does not assess the goods and services financed by governments through tax revenues.

Business taxation includes: provincial corporate income taxes, social security contributions, payroll taxes, and property taxes and provincial sales taxes as well as the provincial segments of the HST.

Personal taxation includes: provincial personal income taxes, social security contributions paid by employees, property taxes, and provincial sales taxes as well as the provincial segments of the HST.

Join Julie Adès and Matthew Stewart for a live webinar to discuss the findings for the provinces on June 1, 2016 at 3 PM AT.

The report was produced for the Centre for Tax Analysis, Fiscal Incentives and Competitiveness (TAFIC). Launched in 2014, TAFIC provides Canadian business leaders and policy-makers with credible, leading-edge quantitative research on all aspects of the Canadian system of taxation and fiscal incentives. Using sophisticated econometric tools to measure the impact of proposed reforms on the Canadian economy, TAFIC publishes evidence-based and accessible reports on key issues related to taxation and fiscal incentives.

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SOURCE Conference Board of Canada

Yvonne Squires, Media Relations, The Conference Board of Canada, Tel.: [phone] ext. 221, E-mail: [email protected]; Juline Ranger, Director of Communications, The Conference Board of Canada, Tel.: [phone] ext. 431, E-mail: [email protected]