Recently, someone relayed an account of the province of British Columbia’s tax and medical system, and here is part of my response:
The capital gains tax rate in B.C. isn’t 48%. Taxtips.ca shows that the highest capital gains tax rate there is only 21.85% for any gains on income over $128,800 for 2011. For the average B.C. taxpaper, it is far less, at either 11.35% or 14.85%.
As for the 12% sales tax, it has a 5% federal component and a 7% provincial component. That is, the B.C. government is only taking 7%, whereas the 5% sales tax is paid anywhere in Canada. While few like paying taxes, it’s a constitutional tax in both Canada and according to the principles and letter of the law of the original U.S. Constitution.
You said you had a friend in B.C. who had to wait four and a half years for a hip replacement. The B.C. government reports that between July 1 to September 30, 2010, the median wait time for hip replacements was only 11.6 weeks.
That’s for people admitted to a waiting list based on a doctor’s medical assessment. If you’re not admitted, then you’re also not getting any hip replacement in the U.S. if you don’t have the money or private health insurance to pay for it.
