Scandinavia vs- Canada Social and Economic Policies

Scandinavia vs- Canada Social and Economic Policies By: Paul Young, CPA, CGA

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DisclaimerThis presentation is one opinion on differences between Canada and Scandinavia

Paul Young - Presenter

BioCPA/CGA25 years of experience in Academia, Industry and Financial solutionsYoutube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAArky1bAXPSuV2NLtUnyLg

AgendaGDPCorporate TaxVATPersonal TaxPayroll TaxStandard of LivingIncome inequalityPoverty Arms productionComments

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GDP by Industry (express in %)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2012.html5

Tax Burden / Corporate

Canada

Norway

Denmark``

http://www.itrworldtax.com/Jurisdiction/32/Canada.html

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VAT TaxationCanada VAT 5% (Federal) (Provincial Rate 8% to 10%) Denmark 25%Sweden 25%Finland- 24%Norway 25%

http://www.thehstblog.com/2015/12/articles/gst-general-1/canadian-sales-tax-rates-as-at-january-1-2016/http://www.vatlive.com/vat-rates/european-vat-rates/eu-vat-rates/http://www.vatlive.com/global-vat-gst/norway/norway-vat-compliance-and-rates/

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Personal Income Tax RatesCanada 29% (39-50 combined Provincial/Federal Rates)Denmark 55.41%Sweden 57.00%Norway 47.2%Finland 52.35%

https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/services/tax/tax-tools-and-resources/tax-rates-online/individual-income-tax-rates-table.html8

Payroll TaxesCanada 7.58%Denmark Lump sum no rateSweden 31.42%Norway 14.1%Finland- 23.23%

1. https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/services/tax/tax-tools-and-resources/tax-rates-online/social-security-employer-tax-rates-table.html9

Per capita income

http://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GNIPC.pdf

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Cost of living

Canada is Rank 30th

http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/10-countries-with-the-highest-cost-of-living-in-the-world-362232/

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp11

Best Countries

http://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/methodology12

Income inequalityhttps://www.oecd.org/forum/issues/oecd-forum-2015-income-inequality-in-figures.htm

Poverty Rateshttps://www.oecd.org/forum/issues/oecd-forum-2015-income-inequality-in-figures.htm

Arms ProductionSource: http://www.businessinsider.com/swedens-dirty-secret-they-arm-dictators-2014-5

Sweden has weapon systems that are inexpensive but not cheap. AIP diesel submarines and an affordable fighter that can defeat the best Russian planes are systems that the US should adopt to lower the cost of defense while increasing security. The US could buy twice as many submarines while saving half of the cost. The US could buy twice as many fighters while saving five times the cost.

CommentsCanada is joined at the hip with the USA as such has to be competitive with United States on costs. Payroll taxes are costs for business as such they have kept in checkCanadas economy is driven by commodities, like oil, natural gas, precious metals, agriculture, etc. as such has to depend on exports. Exports account for 1/3 of GDP and are growing at 4% clip each yearScandinavia countries are very expensive for business: http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/australia-the-most-expensive-country-in-the-g20-20140512-3846v.html. Some Swedish companies are re-looking at their investment due to the high cost: http://www.bcg.com/media/pressreleasedetails.aspx?id=tcm:12-141488Canada competitiveness as slipped, but some of that slipped has to do with bad polices at the provincial level: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/newsrelease/13-09-04/canada_ranks_14th_in_global_competitiveness_for_the_second_consecutive_year.aspx. Ontario has drove business out with more regulations as well as high power costs!Canada commitment to social programs: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/government-social-spending_20743904-table1. You will notice that Harpers government continue put money into social programs. Harper has increase the transfers for education as such money has flown to post-secondary education by the provinces: http://www.stlawrencecollege.ca/news/2014/oecd-report/Education - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/finland-schools-subjects-are-out-and-topics-are-in-as-country-reforms-its-education-system-10123911.htmlhttp://sustainability.thomsonreuters.com/2014/05/11/end-oil-boom-threatens-norways-welfare-model/. Norway has AG sector, but little else as compare to Canada that has MFG, food processing, lumber, fishing, etc. Norway debt to GDP http://www.tradingeconomics.com/norway/government-debt-to-gdp is at 29Argument against Norway - http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/why-norway-is-a-bs-argument-for-higher-taxes-8235/

Other SourcesIncome inequality - http://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/poverty-and-low-income-canadaWealthiest - http://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/wealthiest-income-earners-in-canada-taxation-and-income-redistributiionMiddle class http://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/middle-class-and-quality-of-life-canada Poverty - http://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/poverty-and-low-income-canada

Contact informationPaul_Young_CGA@Hotmail.com