Originally written in 2008, but with an update for 2025 at the end.
According to the Fraser Institute Tax Freedom Day for 2008 was Saturday June 14th. This is allegedly the end of you earning money for taxes. It means you have the rest of the year to pay for all your other expenses. I am a highly taxed individual. No matter how much I complain about overspending in my household, taxes far outstrip all our other spending.
The institute even has a fun little tool to figure out your specific Tax Freedom Day. It was cool to play around with as well.
This artificial celebration really means very little. Most Canadians pay over 50% of their income in various taxes. This is clear if you simply count the number of days until this happy day. How can things change? Less Government spending might help, smarter spending might be nice too (get more from all the money I give you). I haven’t had a raise in 5 years. It would be nice if the government reconsidered its spending as my household has done. I mean government in the Generic across the board sense, not just the Federal or Provincial folks.
Enjoy earning money for yourself now (figuratively, if not factually).
Addendum 2025 Freedom Day
According to the Fraser Institute Tax Freedom Day in 2025 is June 8th, isn't that great?
No point in repeating myself, I started pointing out some criticisms of “tax freedom day” in response to Canadian Capitalist’s post on the subject. Check it out.
Credit card interest rates aren’t tied to the Bank of Canada Rate or even the prime rate. There tied to the HMSCA index, which kind of ties in with the consumer confidence index. It’s full name is the “How Much of a Sucker Consumers Are Index”.
Seriously, I don’t like the way they calculate tax freedom day. I don’t agree that EI and CPP should be included, only actual taxes. It’s not called ‘Taxes and Services Freedom Day’. They also don’t include things like the CCTB, UUCB, GST Credit and others. I guess it’s a good guide between years though, just not that useful otherwise.