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March 13, 2017INVESTMENT INCOME AND RRSP CONTRIBUTIONS, 2015 Statistics Canada has released additional details from 2015 income tax records, describing the share of total income by age and income group. This also shows variables such as the share of individual taxfilers who report investment income and the share who report Registered Retirements Savings Plan (RRSP) contributions.
With an older population, Nova Scotia's share of taxfilers who fall in older age categories is higher than the national average. The proportion of NS taxfilers in younger cohorts is below the national average.
The proportion of Nova Scotia taxfilers reporting lower amounts of total income exceeds the national average. Likewise, the share of Nova Scotians reporting higher total income in 2015 fell short of the national average.
On their 2015 tax returns, 22.6 per cent of Nova Scotians reported some form of investment income, compared with a national average of 28.6 per cent and a high of 33.8 per cent in British Columbia. Investment income accounted for 5.5 per cent of Nova Scotians' total income in 2015, compared with a national average of 6.7 per cent and a high of 11.0 per cent in Alberta.
Investment income is disproportionately higher for older Nova Scotians as well as those in higher income groups:
Statistics Canada's data also reports on the number of taxfilers who make RRSP contributions. In Nova Scotia, 17.4 per cent of taxfilers reported RRSP contributions, valued at 2.6 per cent of total income. In Canada, 22.9 per cent of taxfilers reported RRSP contributions, amounting to 3.2 per cent of total income.
RRSP contributions are proportionally higher among those Nova Scotians closer to retirement age (45-64). Nova Scotians in higher income categories account for a disproportionate share of RRSP contributors and RRSP contributions.
Source: Statistics Canada CANSIM tables 111-0037, 111-0039
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