Tax season facts and figures

For those who love the number-crunching that comes with tax season, we have compiled some tax trivia, courtesy of Statistics Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency and the Department of Finance.

The following tax facts and figures are the most recent available.

26.1 million: Number of people filing Canadian tax returns (2012 tax year).

$127.1 billion: Total personal income tax collected (federal, provincial and territorial) in the 12 months to March 31, 2013 (up 2.8 per cent from $123.7 billion in 2011-12).

$1,641: Average refund during the 2012 tax-filing season (up $22 from the previous year).

76%: Percentage of income tax returns filed electronically during the 2012 tax-filing season.

16.4%: Percentage of their total income that Canadians paid in income tax in 2010

$9,100: Median (meaning half of the people pay more and half pay less) income tax paid by families of two or more people in 2011 (up 7.1 per cent from 2010).

$8.5 billion: Total value of charitable donations claimed (2011).

$1,491: Average charitable donation claimed per tax filer (2011).

258,465: Number of tax filers in the top one per cent of income earners (2011).

$209,600: Minimum annual income to be in the top one per cent (2011).

21.1%: Percentage of women among the top one per cent (up from 11 per cent in 1982).

20.8%: Proportion of total income taxes collected paid by the top one per cent (2011), which is down from a 2007 peak of 23.3 per cent.

$443,500: The average income of the top one per cent (2011).

$37,900: The average income of the remaining 99 per cent (2011).

$146,600: The average income tax paid by the top one per cent of income earners (2011). 

$5,600: The average income tax paid by the remaining 99 per cent (2011).