Individual Tax Statistics by Tax Bracket 2017 Edition (2015 tax year)

The 2017 edition of Individual Tax Statistics by Tax Bracket gives the basic counts and amounts of individual tax information by tax bracket. These statistics are based on the 2015 tax year initial assessment data up to January 27, 2017.

Table of Contents

Individual Tax Statistics by Tax Bracket

Explanatory notes

Confidentiality procedures

To make sure taxfiler information is protected, some data has been suppressed. As well, counts are rounded to the nearest multiple of 10. For example, 104 is rounded to 100 and 105 is rounded to 110. Dollar amounts are rounded to the nearest million in all tables. Totals may not add up because of rounding or suppression.

Data source

Data were taken from the individual income tax and benefit returns filed for the 2015 tax year. These statistics contain the initial assessments up to the cut-off date of January 27, 2017. All of the statistics in this publication are subject to revision.

Classification variables

Age

The age of the taxfiler is gathered from the reported year of birth on page 1 of his or her individual income tax and benefit return.

Major source of income

Taxfilers do not report their type of work or occupation. The Canada Revenue Agency determines the classification based on the largest source of income reported on the taxfiler’s individual income tax and benefit return.

For example, if a taxfiler earned a salary but reported more income from investments, this taxfiler was classified as an investor, not as an employee.

Total income is made up of six major income classifications: paid employment, pension income, investment income, self-employment income, social benefit payments, and other income. The following list describes the six major income classifications:

Province or territory

Province or territory of residence refers to the province or territory in which the taxfiler resided on December 31, 2015, as indicated on his or her individual income tax and benefit return.

Sex

The sex of the taxfiler is gathered from information on file with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Tax bracket

Tax brackets are set based on taxable income levels. Individuals with higher taxable income are taxed at a higher rate. The 2015 tax brackets and tax rates in Canada are: 

Federal income tax brackets
Taxable income Tax rate
$44,701 or less 15%
$44,702 to $89,401 22%
$89,402 to $138,586 26%
Over $138,586 29%

Description of items

Total income

This is the amount reported on line 150 of the return, or the total of the previous income items (lines 101, 104 to 143, and 147).

Taxable income

 This is the amount reported on line 260 of the return.

Net federal tax

This is the amount reported on line 420 of the return.

Description of tables

Table 1

Table 1 gives the number of taxfilers by province or territory and tax bracket for all returns. The number refers to the assessed returns up to the cut-off date of January 27, 2017. Non-resident returns may take longer for the Canada Revenue Agency to assess, so the number for them can go up significantly after the cut-off date. 

Table 2

This table presents taxable income by province or territory and tax bracket for all returns. Taxable income is based on line 260 of the return.

Table 3

Table 3 presents net federal tax by province or territory and tax bracket for all returns. Net federal tax is based on line 420 of the return.

Tables 4A to 4O

Tables 4A to 4M present the number of taxfilers by age group and tax bracket for each province or territory. Table 4N gives the number of taxfilers by age group and tax bracket for non-residents whose returns are assessed by the cut-off date. Table 4O shows the number of taxfilers by age group and tax bracket for all of Canada. It covers fifteen age groups, beginning with taxfilers under 20 and ending with taxfilers 85 or over.

Table 5

This table presents information on the number of taxfilers by sex, province or territory, and tax bracket. Sex has two categories: male and female. Taxfilers who did not state a sex are excluded from this table, and this number is statistically insignificant.

Table 6

This table presents information on the number of taxfilers by major source of income, province or territory, and tax bracket. The six major sources of income are: paid employment, pension income, investment income, self-employment income, social benefit payments, and other income. Taxfilers with income of less than one dollar are grouped into the other income classification.

Tables in PDF format

Tables in CSV format

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