The best advice comes from George Carlin who said "Don't sweat the petty stuff and don't pet the sweaty stuff".

This is very true but you cannt compare directly like that as the exchange rate doesnt work for purchases. You need to compare $60k with GBP60K to get a comparison.

Plus you dont pay tax on your full salary - you get personal allowances and better deductions over here. For example if your spouse doesnt have any income the Canadian spousal allowance can be transferred. Our provincial spousal allowance is $13525 - so Mr G gets two of those (mine transfers) so he gets $27,050 free of Alberta taxes and he still gets other deductions like medical expenses. I cannot imagine any situation in the UK where you would get a GBP27K personal allowance (and yes the Alberta ones are generous).

And you didnt add on the effect of the NIC! CPP and EI are capped at a total of $2,620.

I would rather live on $60k in Alberta than GBP60Kin the UK.

Mrs G

Yes, but I live in Alberta

Plus you still get the federal deductions in other provinces - and CPP,EI are still capped at a low figure there.

Mrs G

For all the noise generated by Canadian vs UK vs US taxes, I find it interesting that even in Ontario, which has no oil, the tax burden is actually lower than it is in neighbouring New York state. Things that make you go hmmm.

Comparing taxes is a very tricky thing to do. I think the canadian government(s) are a lot more up front about where the tax is. Its easy to quote tax rates, but there are so many nuances its hard to get a real picture. Is National insurance in the UK a tax...course it is, same as CPP and EI are here. Sales tax is lower here than the UK, even with PST factored in, plus prices are generally lower to start off with. I very much doubt I am paying more tax in Canada than I would in the UK.

Comparisons to the US are even more difficult...where do you begin to factor in health care costs in that equation. Wouldnt want to be without it down there. A stat quoted on telly the other day, every 30 seconds someone in america declares bancrupsy due to medical expenses!

I guess the real question is do we get value for money for the taxes we pay.

So true. It's connected to "Quality of Life". For instance you might pay lower taxes in the US but you may have to pay for your own medical coverage (if your employer does'nt provide coverage) which can be as much per month as a mortgage payment. Also it can be difficult to get coverage if you have a chronic condition.

If you have coverage from your employer then you are restricted in changing jobs which is a form of servitude.

I do pay more tax here than in the UK.. but I knew that before I came...

Do we get value for money... Just like the UK it varies... I appreciate the prompt snow clearing.. I get very frustrated with the slow administration in both provincial and federal government..

This greatly surprises me. Only you know your financial situation but I'm wondering if you are claiming all you can on your tax return.

Mrs G

I am claiming everything I can on my tax return...

But to be fair... I pay approx 24% of my salary in tax here

and in the Uk it was around 23% salaries being very close..

Fair enough - only you know - but did you include nic, cpp and ei in those calculations?

As insight into US health insurance: My wife and I, both in our 20's, healthy (no pre-existing conditions), non-smokers, pay US $650 a month for our health insurance. That's about what we paid for a full year of Alberta health premiums.

I haven't used any medical services here, but my wife has visited the doctor and tells me that the quality - judging by physical environment, support staff service and amount of doctor's attention - wasn't as good as even a walk-in clinic in Calgary (which we used for a while after we first moved, because there was a waiting list for family doctors in the city at that time; I think there still may be).

Oh, and another thing, whenever we visit the doctor - for any reason - we have to pay a "co-pay." This "co-pay" is more than you pay in Calgary for a doctor's visit even if you aren't covered by Alberta Health.

And there's the billing hassle factor. No doctor's visit in the US is complete without six month's of subsequent bill arbitration. Bills gets sent to you, the patient, and your insurance company. But insurance companies will then dispute the bill with the doctor's office, and you. This is hardly surprising when you consider the miscellaneous fees doctors here charge. The bill for my wife's recent visit for example, included a US $145 "handling" charge for writing a prescription. The insurance company disputed this part of the bill, saying it had no clinical merit, and told us we had to pay it. After talking to some locals about it, they said this sort of wrangling is par for the course, and whatever you do, don't pay! Sure enough, after refusing to pay, the insurance company negotiated that part of the bill away. It's a game.

Everyone I have spoken to says this process is absolutely normal practice: you go to the doctor, they send a bill, all parties dispute the bill until finally reaching consensus, then the revised bill is ultimately paid. Whatever you do, they say, don't give in - never ever accept any portion of the bill that the insurance company says they won't cover.

Most Americans will agree, the whole health system here is a dysfunctional crazy mess.

Oh nooooooooo.. Don't even get me started on them.

Very interesting. Now here's my US experience. I had international medical insurance. This didn't cover visits to a doctor's office, only coverage for major medical problems. I had to renew my medication for asthma because it was beyond the expiration date. This required that I see a doctor for a new prescription even though I already knew exactly what medication I needed (no change necessary). So I went to a local hospital and saw one of the doctors who did an exam and gave me a new prescription (no changes). The pharmacy told me that the drug the doctor prescribed is no longer made and had to inform the doctor of this who then had the pharmacist change the medication to something similar. I got a bill from the doctor and a separate bill from the hospital. If there had been any lab work, I also would have received a bill from the lab.

The "Nickle and Diming" is typical of the American "Free Enterprise" culture. Apparently the system cost of this overhead activity is significant. A couple of questions though:

1) Is your $650/month tax deductable?

2) Under what circumstances would your insurance company/HMO decline or cancel coverage?

I can't answer either of these questions with any certainty, which is embarrassing.