Finance committee  Thirty-five per cent.

Finance committee  Yes, that is correct.

Finance committee  Roughly 11 million.

Finance committee  That is correct.

Finance committee  I would like to close with this. The first two quintiles do not pay any income tax. If we are talking about a tax reduction, it is rather normal that...

Finance committee  Moreover, the nine million people who will benefit from a tax reduction represent three quarters of those who are in the second bracket.

Finance committee  I would simply like to confirm that in the first tax bracket, there are 8.7 million people.

Finance committee  At $217,000.

Finance committee  Thank you. I cannot really speak to the other options that were discussed with the minister. However, I can say that the objective of this measure is to rebalance the progressive income tax system so that the progressivity is more effective.

Finance committee  The Department of Finance does not have a definition of the middle class. It is a generic term.

Finance committee  There is no common definition of the middle class because it is very difficult to define it. It varies enormously by region and the age of the individuals and whether or not they have reached their maximum income cycles. You used the national income distribution, but someone in

Finance committee  I would like to get back to the objective of the policy, which is to rebalance the income tax system First, 35% of the people in Canada who file a tax return do not pay any income tax. So the first two quintiles are already made up of people who do not pay any income tax at all.

Finance committee  Single people are entitled to the GST tax credit, for instance.

Finance committee  If you take into account the advantages individuals in the first tax bracket get, the net tax rate is very favourable. It is not high. It is often in the second tax bracket that individuals and families begin to lose their advantages. At that point, the effective tax rates are h

Finance committee  You're going to have to give me a bit more detail; I'm not sure what you're referring to.