April is the month that most Canadians give at least a passing thought to how much tax they pay. There is relentless advertising about getting a tax refund. Of course, if you are getting a refund this means that you paid too much money to the government and they are merely giving you back your own money, but still it feels like a present.
For self-employed people they are generally paying in at this time of year. Without an employer there was no one who took money from their pay cheque and sent it to the government, so unless a self-employed person paid instalments on their own, there is no refund to be had.
The reason that I think it is a good thing to owe tax is that is means that you made money. If you don’t make money your life is much more challenging. I have talked to self-employed people who had a year in which they did not make enough money to pay income tax and they never want to have a year like that again.
If you are paying income tax this year, take a moment to be grateful that you had a year that was successful enough that tax is owing.
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