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VOL 23 - ISSUE 36
www.theasianstar.com SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2024
How much of the average Canadian family's income really goes to taxes Do you feel like half of your paycheque goes toward paying taxes? Well, that’s not just a feeling or an exaggeration. A study has found that the average Canadian family spends most of its income on taxes instead of necessities. The Fraser Institute released the 2024 edition of the Canadian Consumer Tax Index in July, revealing how much households spent on taxes in 2023. The report found that the average family spent 43% of its income on taxes last year, more than the 35.6% spent on basic needs like housing, food and clothing combined. “Taxes remain the largest household expense for families in Canada,” said Jake Fuss, director of Fiscal Studies at the public policy think-tank and co-author of the study. According to the report, the average household
earned an income of $109,235 and paid, in total, taxes equaling $46,988. The Fraser Institute says this is a dramatic shift since 1961, when the average family spent less of its income on duties (33.5%) than on bare necessities (56.5%). “Taxes have grown much more rapidly than any other single expenditure for the average Canadian family,” reads the report. However, it’s important to note that today’s tax-funded federal programs and social services may not have existed back then. One example is the Canada Health Act, which passed in 1984 and provides Canadians with free healthcare. The Fraser Institute also attributes this spike in spending to “visible and hidden” costs like income, payroll, sales, property, carbon, health, fuel, and alcohol taxes.
Avtar Gill wants to bring change to Fleetwood and Surrey Avtar Gill wants to change BC for the better – and he wants to start with the Surrey Fleetwood area. Gill is running as a BC Conservatize candidate in Surrey Fleetwood riding to unseat long timer NDP MLA and provincial trade minister Jagrup Brar. A realtor and community worker in the South Asian Community, Gill says he has been listening to complaints about the NDP government from people over the past several years. “Everywhere I go, people complain about problems in the education, health care and crime. People want a change, and I am part of that change,” he said. Continued on Page 12...
Rachna Singh - running for her third term
Rachna Singh entered politics in 2017, was re-elected in 2020. She is now running for her third term. As the current Minister of Education, Rachna Singh was asked about SOGI. “SOGI is one of the big issues for parents in BC. Can you please explain to our readers what SOGI is.” The Asian Star. Continued on Page 7...
Ravi Kahlon Talks to The Asian Star Ravi Kahlon’s inspiration for entering politics came from watching his grandfather advocate for seniors in Victoria. His grandfather, a retired military officer who migrated to Canada in the mid-1970s, played a vital role in organizing the senior South Asian community and pushing for the construction of a senior center that still stands across the gurdwara. Continued on Page 6...
Obituary: Ratan Tata, the 'modest' Indian tycoon Ratan Tata, who has died aged 86, was one of India's most internationally recognised business leaders. The tycoon led the Tata Group - known as a "salt-to-software" conglomerate of more than 100 companies, employing some 660,000 people - for more than two decades. Its annual revenues are in excess of $100bn (£76.5bn). Founded by Jamsetji Tata, a pioneer of Indian business, the 155-year-old Tata Group straddles a business empire ranging from Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Steel to aviation and salt pans. The ethos of the company "yokes capitalism to philanthropy, by doing business
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in ways that make the lives of others better", according to Peter Casey, author of The Story of Tata, an authorised book on the group. Tata Sons, the holding company of the group, has a "number of companies that includes privately held and publicly traded companies, yet they are in essence all owned by a philanthropic trust", he explains. Ratan Tata was born in 1937 in a traditional family of Parsis - a highly educated and prosperous community that traces its ancestry to Zoroastrian refugees in India. His parents separated in the 1940s. Continued on page 10...
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