On its 14th annual Gas Tax Honesty Day, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation released new data on gas taxes with several major findings.
Highlights include:
– the average two-car family will pay approximately $1,225 in gas taxes every year;
– federal and provincial tax-on-tax costs Canadians an average 2.5 cents/litre, or $82 a year for a two-car family, or $1.7 billion nationally;
– taxes make up nearly 29 per cent of the pump price for gasoline; and
– there is a strong positive correlation between lower pump prices in provinces with lower gas taxes.
“Gas taxes continue to eat up a disproportionate amount of Canadian household income,” said the federation’s federal director Gregory Thomas. “But Canadians are not only paying high gas taxes, they are paying unfair tax-on-tax.”
In 2004, the Conservative Party wrote in a national News release: “The fastest and easiest way to give Canadians relief at the pump is for the federal government to stop charging GST on top of gasoline excise taxes. It’s time to axe the tax on the tax.”
Thomas said, “We agree with the Conservative policy commitment of ending the tax-on-tax. The question is: Do they still agree with themselves?”
Every year before the May long-weekend, the federation holds a Gas Tax Honesty Day as a reminder to motorists that nearly 29 per cent of the price at the pump is taxes, many of them hidden. In addition, the federation has released new data detailing gas tax breakdowns in every province.
“The evidence is clear: lower gas taxes mean lower pump prices,” said Thomas. “If Canadians want relief at the pump, the way to deliver it is to cut gas taxes, starting with the HST tax-on-tax.”
