Land of taxes

[togor]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ife_expectancy

Per the 2015 data, Canadian men come in eighth, and the US comes in 32nd. So whatever is killing the Canadians, it doesn't appear to be taxes. Or if it is, then the US needs a tax hike. Hint for Vern: that last part was a little joke.

[JB White]

Canadian sales taxes help spread the cost of healthcare throughout the Canadian population and the tourists who get no benefit from them.

How about big purchases, like cars? Do you actually buy them in Canada and pay the 13% sales tax, or do you go across the border and buy them in the US?

Used to be when I returned to the US from Canada I could mail all my receipts to the proper authorities and get my Canadian taxes and certain Provincial taxes refunded. Not so anymore.
Doesn't matter where I buy a car and pay taxes on it. As soon as I get it into Illinois to register it, they charge all the Illinois taxes and the Chicago 'Daley Tax'. Only a huge difference in retail prices could help offset the actual total paid.

[Mark in Ottawa]

One comparative measure between the USA and Canada is "tax freedom day" - that is the day on which a typical family stops working for governments at all levels and starts to work for themselves. For the USA tax freedom day is April 19 (109 days); for Canada it is June 10 (161 days)

In 2018, the average Canadian family will earn $115,724 in income and pay a total of $50,464 in taxes (43.6%). (These are in Canadian dollars which are worth about 77 US cents)

The problem with this comparison of course, is that the Canadian data includes the cost of health care.

According to this website (https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/...lth-u-s-spends) the USA spends about $10,300 per person while Canada spends about $4,750 per year. It is not clear how much of the US expenditure is made by the government as opposed to private individuals.

All very interesting but somewhat inconclusive

[Former Cav]

wife's cousins in Sweden pay about 78% in taxes (total).
but hey, they get FREE health care and a FREE funeral too!!

[Merc]

The cost of healthcare in the US is certainly an expensive issue but the caliber and availability has generally kept up with the times. Long lines was a complaint I heard most often from my Canadian friends in Lakefield. CT scans and sonograms take 4 weeks and MRIs take 11 weeks according to the 2015 report issued by the Frazier Inst. Waiting 11 weeks for an MRI can be a death sentence for someone with a serious illness like a brain tumor. Has that improved in more recent years?

[Sandpebble]

Very interesting thread ...

I spent 5 1/2 years in Australia where taxes were higher... yup... blue jeans cost a hell of a lot more as did washing machines and clothes dryers.... however

medical care was a non issue... no matter who you were. If it bothered you to wait for non important stuff like wart removal you were free to purchase private insurance,,,,at a fraction of its cost here.

back to taxes.... at the time I lived there a cashier at a local big box Target store made enough money to buy a home.... and she did... and bought furniture to fill it.

Back here I discovered a cashier at Target couldn't afford rent

It's not how much you pay in taxes that's important ... it's what you can do with whats left over

and I never heard the rich down there whining ....they were just happy being rich enough

[S.A. Boggs]

Very interesting thread ...

I spent 5 1/2 years in Australia where taxes were higher... yup... blue jeans cost a hell of a lot more as did washing machines and clothes dryers.... however

medical care was a non issue... no matter who you were. If it bothered you to wait for non important stuff like wart removal you were free to purchase private insurance,,,,at a fraction of its cost here.

back to taxes.... at the time I lived there a cashier at a local big box Target store made enough money to buy a home.... and she did... and bought furniture to fill it.

Back here I discovered a cashier at Target couldn't afford rent

It's not how much you pay in taxes that's important ... it's what you can do with whats left over

and I never heard the rich down there whining ....they were just happy being rich enough

You're a traveled man, why reside in Florida?
Sam

[Mark in Ottawa]

Merc:

With respect to long waiting times for diagnostics you are correct for non-urgent situations. My understanding however is that for urgent cases, patients will be given high priority. In addition, depending on where you are you can get a private sector MRI in a day or so. I live in Ontario where until a few weeks ago we had a Liberal government that believed that there should be no such thing as a private sector MRI provider and bought them all out. As it happens I live in Ottawa which is on the border with the Province of Quebec which doesn't share that view and I can drive 20 minutes from home and get an immediate MRI as long as I want to pay for it (about $1,000 I understand)

As far as surgery is concerned, my experience has been that access was rapid, even for non-urgent surgery. Some years ago, after a long wait for a CATscan I was able to schedule major back surgery within two weeks. When I had to get my knee replaced, the surgeon was prepared to operate almost immediately but delayed at my request since I was going on vacation. In subsequent years I had two other knee surgeries, also with no delay.

The reality is that our system is not a bad as its critics portray it and not as good as it could be but for the most part is acceptable.

[Sandpebble]

[/QUOTE] The reality is that our system is not a bad as its critics portray it and not as good as it could be but for the most part is acceptable.[/QUOTE]

Well Mark that is because most critics have never experienced it. Frankly I have never met a Canadian... or Australian... that was unhappy with their health care system.

Yet here in the U.S. I personally know people who pay for insurance and yet still elected to have surgeries performed in South America because it was still a cheaper deal than their co pay here. Even adding in cost of flights . That is pretty sad ...

But on the whole it seems the greatest critics are those that recieve medical insurance as a work place benefit .... I guess they feel they would be loosing something if it was no longer a benefit .

Te myth that Canadians flock here for better treatment is just a bald faced lie .

[Vern Humphrey]

wife's cousins in Sweden pay about 78% in taxes (total).
but hey, they get FREE health care and a FREE funeral too!!

If I had to pay taxes like that, I would quickly avail myself of that last benefit!