nofrills

I've been thinking about both countries and how they compare when it comes to financial aspect.
Lets just assume someone earned the same in the UK as he would in Canada.
What are the tax/ general financial advantages of living in either country.

1. In the UK you can put £20K every year into your ISA and earn tax free interest/capital growth/dividends.
In Canada it is only CAD$ 5K, which is a much smaller amount

2. In the UK if you earn over circa £43K you can invest the amount you earn over £43K into your SIPP and get 40% tax back from the government deposited into your SIPP, where you earn interest/capital growth/dividends tax free, you only get taxed 20% when you retire and start taking money out, plus you can take 25% of your SIPP investment out in as a lump sum, tax free.

What Canada has to offer in this respect?
Are there any such advantages in Canada?

Thanks

Hurlabrick

You will go insane trying to go down this route! Best of luck to you.

geoff52

How much would you put on better quality of life in Canada.

I own a house in Canada that I could never afford in the UK.

My kids are happier in Canada than UK, what price would you put on that,

BristolUK

Almost Canadian

I suggest that anyone that can afford to put 20,000 pounds a year into an ISA in the UK is unlikely to be able to afford financial advice in Canada so as to minimise their tax liability.

Canada permits deferral of paying tax by use of RRSPs. The benefit I get when doing so exceeds the 40% in the UK you refer to. The other benefit to RRSPs in Canada is that you are not limited to when you can make withdrawals from them and the ability to leave them to beneficiaries upon death is far more useful than SIPPS in the UK.

Aviator

Invest for the best returns and have a good accountant, wherever you live.

If your question is a basis for an immigration decision, best to stay wherever you are.

Vinny17

In Canada, the current Liberal Government is looking to close all loopholes for "middle class" - so you can expect an effective tax rate of 35% plus on income. Tax rates vary by province, but once you add provincial and federal taxes, and then add GST, property taxes and levies, it adds up to +/-53%. the current Liberal government is looking at "affluent" taxpayers for an additional tax - potentially 73% tax rate. Welcome to Canada!

dbd33

I've never paid anything like 53% but, I suppose, I may not have been "middle class". Are you measuring class by income or so other measure? If income, how much is middle class?

Vinny17

If you add up all of the taxes you are paying - income, property, sales tax, tax on gas, etc. etc. and you have income over C$60,000 (or £35,000) you will be near 53%. If you are above that, look out.

dbd33

If all the same factors are counted and assuming the same pattern of consumption, what is the tax rate on £35,000 in the UK or in California?

Vinny17

Not sure what your point is. California is the last place one would look for low taxes. Knock yourself out if you want to live there. Perhaps someone from the UK can weigh in on tax rate in their area. One would expect taxes to be lower outside of London or other larger centers.

Vulcanoid

Consumption patterns are impossible to really allow for in that sense (eg, in Britain, my gas taxes were £0 - I cycled). But if you plug 35k into listentotaxman (UK), that says you pay 22.6%, and 60k into simpletax (CA/BC), that says 22.7%. So functionally identical.

Sales tax in Britain is 20%, Canada has 5-15% depending on Province/Territory. Gas taxes in Canada apparently average around 35% of pump price, while Britain's (which is about twice as expensive to start off with) is some 60%.

Property tax is probably the only place Canadians might pay substantially higher, as council tax normally runs £750 to 2k-odd, depending on band, and crucially maxes out, rather than going up ever-higher as the property price goes up, unlike Canada. But HuffPo have an interesting article on the varying factors that go into property taxes in Canada, at Canada's Highest, Lowest Property Taxes.

Suffice to say, not only is it hard to come up with a lifestyle where a Canadian would be paying higher taxes than a Brit, the uh, 'estimate' of 52-75% total tax is.... not quite in line with reality

Yorkiechef

I thought Canada was largely a classless society. But, if you are educated at university and have a professional qualification, work long hours and live in cardboard houses...you are middle class. There is no aristocrats as far as I am aware..Lords, Dukes, Earls....unless it's your first name eh!
Plenty of land owners, those are generally very rich or very poor. But usually very rich.
And beggars OAP and scrounges. THEY ARE GENERALLY POOR, unless they are very lucky not to have to rely on the state.

I think the measurement of class by income is no longer possible, it is where you live, your education and whom you mix with. Heroin and crack users can occupy any of the above.

The world is a crock of......

Vinny17

From a national newspaper - if you are a professional with an incorporated business.

A 93% tax rate? Private corporation tax could make it possible | Financial Post

dbd33

That taxes are not unreasonably high in Canada and that the services provided for tax paid are good value for money.