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OTTAWA — The vast majority of Canadians pay taxes each year, but a new survey suggests they are prepared to cheat at the margins if they think they can get away with it.

The survey for H&R Block Canada found 55% of respondents saying that when dealing with a contractor, they would opt to pay cash to avoid sales taxes.

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And they are not feeling overly guilty about it either. Only 30% said they thought the avoidance wrong. Among young Canadians aged 18-34, only 17% said it was wrong to avoid paying the sales tax.

The findings don’t seem to be related specifically to sales taxes, which range from a low of five% in Alberta to a high of 15.5% in Prince Edward Island.

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A majority of Canadians believe they shouldn’t have to declare bartered transactions, nor do they feel workers in the service industry like waiters and bartenders should need to declare tips as income.

“I think it boils down to people feeling they pay enough tax, that they shouldn’t have to pay anymore,” said Cleo Hamel, a senior tax analyst with H&R Block.