After-tax income of private household

Status: This standard was approved as a departmental standard on March 21, 2016.

Definition

After-tax income refers to total income less income taxes of the statistical unit during a specified reference period. Income taxes refers to the sum of federal income taxes, provincial and territorial income taxes, less abatement where applicable. Provincial and territorial income taxes include health care premiums in certain jurisdictions. Abatement reduces the federal income taxes payable by persons residing in Quebec or in certain self-governing Yukon First Nation settlement lands.

Private household refers to a person or group of persons who occupy the same dwelling and do not have a usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada or abroad. The household universe is divided into two sub-universes on the basis of whether the household is occupying a collective dwelling or a private dwelling. The latter is a private household.

Usage

When the mean, median or percentages are calculated for income, the units without income may be either included or excluded based on the analytic purpose. The units included in the calculation should be specified.

To facilitate comparison of income of households of different sizes or compositions, income can be adjusted using factors that account for the possibility of economies of scale for larger households. See 'adjusted after-tax income' in the Additional information section for more information.

Conformity to relevant internationally recognized standards

This standard does not correspond to the disposable income concept contained in the "Canberra Group Handbook on Household Income Statistics, Second edition". Unlike after-tax income, the disposable income concept accounts for social insurance contributions and other non-discretionary spending in order to measure income available for consumption and savings.

Measurements

  • 'Amount of income' is expressed in Canadian dollars. The data presentation should specify any adjustments made, including whether the unit of measure is current dollars or constant dollars. Amount of income can range from the lowest negative number on the file to the maximum positive number on the file. October 15, 2012 to current
  • Canadian dollar at current prices May 12, 2003 to current

Classifications

Additional information

In order to reduce response burden, many social statistics programs at Statistics Canada now gather information on income components and income taxes from administrative records from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to derive after-tax income. The after-tax income concept presented in this definition does not correspond to any income concepts used by CRA for tax purposes.

See:

Relation to previous version

  • After-tax income of private household March 21, 2016 to current

    This standard replaces the recommended standard 'After-tax income of private household'. The definition of after-tax income and the classification have been changed.

  • After-tax income of private household September 11, 2013 to March 20, 2016

    This was the recommended standard from September 11, 2013 to March 20, 2016.

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