Top 1% of tax filers earned $454,800 on average in 2013, Statistics Canada says

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the top one per cent of tax filers in Canada saw their average income climb 1.2 per cent in 2013 to $454,800.

The percentage increase was the same rate for all tax filers, while the amount of income tax paid by the top one per cent averaged $151,900, up $3,000 or two per cent from 2012.

The top one per cent earned 10.3 per cent of the total income and paid 20.3 per cent of the federal, provincial and territorial income taxes in 2013, unchanged from 2012.

Income inequality was a key issue in the federal election campaign.

The Liberals campaigned on a promise to cut income taxes for the middle class and raise them on Canadians making more than $200,000 a year.

To make the top one per cent in 2013, a Canadian needed to earn at least $222,000.

The cutoff for the top five per cent was $115,700, while $89,200 was needed to make the top 10 per cent.

Women made up 21.9 per cent of the top one per cent in 2013, up from 21.3 per cent in 2012.