<P> In Canada total tax and non-tax revenue for every level of government equals about 38.4% of GDP, compared to the U.S. rate of 28.2% . </P> <P> A significant portion of this tax differential is due to spending differences between the two countries . While the US is running deficits of about 4% of GDP, Canada's Federal government posted a budget surplus of around 1% of GDP per year from the mid-1990s until 2008, and under Stephen Harper's Conservative Party reached surplus again in 2015 . During the 2015 election now incumbent Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party of Canada pledged to run $40,000,000,000 in deficits over the next four years of his leadership, although after three months in office he has predicted his government will exceed this amount and won't reach surplus by 2019 . The deficit patterns and indebtedness of Canada's individual provinces vary as they do in the US among different states . Considered in a revenue - neutral context, the differential is much smaller - Canada's total governmental spending was about 36% of GDP vs. 31% in the US . In addition, caution must be used when comparing taxes across countries, due to the different services each offers . Whereas the Canadian healthcare system is 70% government - funded, the US system is just under 50% government - funded (mostly via Medicare and Medicaid); adding the additional healthcare - spending burden to the above figures to obtain comparable numbers (+ 3% for Canada, + 7% for the US) gives adjusted expenditures of 38--39% of GDP for each of the two nations . </P> <P> The taxes are applied the same as well . Canada's income tax system is more heavily biased against the highest income earners, thus while Canada's income tax rate is higher on average, the bottom fifty percent of the population is roughly taxed the same on income as in the United States . However, Canada has a national goods and services tax (GST) of 5% on most purchases, while the U.S. federal government does not, increasing the tax burden on Canadian low - income earners due to the proportional nature of a sales tax . Canadian GST does not tax food and other essentials and a GST rebate for low - income earners mitigates regressiveness . </P> <P> In addition to the 5% GST levied on most purchases, some Canadians also pay a provincial sales tax at a rate that varies by province from 0 - 10% . There are some purchases which are PST exempt, such as children's clothing . In the U.S., most states impose a sales tax, and cities and counties are often permitted to levy taxes as well, which can exceed 10% on purchases but realistically average at about 6 - 8% . Five U.S. states do not have any sales tax imposed . The Canadian province of Alberta and all three territories have no provincial or territorial sales tax on top of the GST . </P>

Canadian income tax rates compared to united states
find me the text answering this question