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by Charles Lammam and Milagros Palacios of the Fraser Institute

Unless analyzing tax policy is part of your day job, you likely avoid thinking about what ultimately can be a polarizing topic. But with the deadline for filing our income tax returns around the corner, we are all forced to at least temporarily think about taxes. The deadline after all is a sharp reminder of how much income tax we paid throughout the year.

While some gladly pay their share -- thinking of the numerous government programs these tax dollars finance -- others feel their income tax burden is too high. No matter where you fall in this debate, to truly gauge whether you are getting value for your tax dollars, you must have a complete understanding of all the taxes you pay, in addition to income taxes.

For that you must look beyond your income tax returns because income taxes form only a portion of the total tax bill imposed on us by all levels of government (federal, provincial and local). According to our calculations, a Canadian family with average income of $74,113 paid $9,195 in income taxes in 2012. While personal income taxes are the single largest type of tax paid by families, they represent less than one-third of the total.

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