Canada’s top income earners pay more than half the total taxes, according to a new report from the Fraser Institute.

The report notes that increasing taxes on the wealthy is often pitched as a populist measure, with progressive politicians claiming the rich don’t pay their fair share, and that fiscal problems can be solved by boosting taxes on the wealthy. But, the report, which uses a tax simulation the Fraser Institute developed, says that the 20 per cent of Canadian families with an income of more than $227,486 actually pay 61.4 per cent of income taxes and 53 per cent of the country’s total taxes. That would include taxes such as payroll tax, sales tax and property tax. “High-income families already pay a disproportionately large share of all Canadian taxes,” it says.

In contrast, the bottom 20 per cent of families that earn less than $56,516 pay just 0.8 per cent of income taxes and 2.1 per cent of total taxes. The middle 60 per cent of income earners, making between $56,517 and $227,486, pay 37.8 per cent of Canada’s total income taxes, and 45 per cent of Canada’s total taxes.

The report also contrasts taxes paid with the share of the total income in Canada. That top quintile of income earners, making more than $227,486, are paying nearly two-thirds of Canada’s income taxes, but receive around 44.6 per cent of the total income.