Taxes impose numerous costs on Canadians both directly and indirectly. Direct costs are the taxes themselves. Indirect costs include the impact of taxes on behavior - the amount that Canadians work, consume, save, and invest - the resources that Canadians expend complying with the tax system, and the amount governments spend collecting taxes. This study examines the compliance costs of Canada's personal income-tax system. That is, it examines all of the costs, time, and effort associated with preparing personal income-tax returns including buying tax software, hiring professionals such as accountants and lawyers, and completing and submitting personal income-tax returns. The study is part of a larger Fraser Institute research project that aims to calculate the compliance burden of all taxes in Canada.

The study is divided in three sections. Section one presents information on the detailed survey of Canadians filing personal income-tax returns carried out by Leger Marketing on behalf of the Fraser Institute. Section two presents the survey results. The final section estimates the costs, both in time and monetary resources, incurred by Canadians to complete and file personal income-tax returns.