Statistics -> Federal personal income tax breakdown
Personal Income Tax Breakdown
Effective Tax Rates and High-Income Canadians, 2019
Statistics Canada published a document in November 2021 providing statistics on effective tax rates and other information, titled Effective tax rates and high-income Canadians, 2019.
Table 3 of the document shows the average effective tax rates, including federal and provincial/territorial income tax and federal payroll tax, for all tax filers, and for the top 1% taxfilers based on average total income. The average effective tax rate is shown for Canada overall, and for each province. The 3 territories are combined.
Average effective tax rates 2018 and 2019 (both are the same) for Canada:
 | top 1% taxfilers 31.7% |
| all tax filers 11.8% |
Unfortunately, the document doesn't provide the same information as the study below done for 1990 to 2002.
2005 Study re 1990 to 2002
Statistics Canada published a study in 2005 titled Federal Personal Income Tax: Slicing the Pie, which examines the breakdown of federal personal income taxes paid by high and low income earners in Canada, from 1990 to 2002. Income earners were divided into 3 groups for the study:
| 10% of taxpayers with the highest incomes
This group included taxpayers earning:
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| 50% of taxpayers with the lowest incomes
This group included taxpayers earning:
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| 40%, or remaining taxpayers, with intermediate incomes
This group included taxpayers earning:
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The following tables summarize the results of the study.
a. Share of federal personal income tax paid by the 3 groups of taxpayers in Canada
| Income group | % of federal personal income taxes paid |
|
| 1990 | 2002 | |
| 50% with lowest incomes | 6.7% | 4.4% |
| 40% with intermediate incomes | 47.3% | 43.0% |
| 10% with highest incomes | 46.0% | 52.6% |
| All Canadian taxfilers | 100.0% | 100.0% |
b. Effective federal personal income tax rates paid by the 3 groups
| Income group | Federal tax as % of income | |
| 1990 | 2002 | |
| 50% with lowest incomes | 4.30% | 2.89% |
| 40% with intermediate incomes | 11.75% | 10.14% |
| 10% with highest incomes | 17.79% | 16.47% |
| All Canadian taxfilers | 12.25% | 11.18% |
c. Share of total income of the 3 groups
| Income group | % of total income | |
| 1990 | 2002 | |
| 50% with lowest incomes | 19.0% | 16.9% |
| 40% with intermediate incomes | 49.3% | 47.4% |
| 10% with highest incomes | 31.7% | 35.7% |
| All Canadian taxfilers | 100.0% | 100.0% |
All information in this article adapted from Statistics Canada publication No. 11-621-MIE2005024, April 22, 2005.
Revised: May 27, 2025