When it comes to tax knowledge, Mackenzie Financial says Canadians just aren’t making the grade.

On the recent Mackenzie Financial Great Canadian Tax Test conducted by Leger Marketing, respondents only correctly answered 6 out of 10 questions, and only 1% of the respondents scored all 10 correct.

“Missing out on tax credits and deductions is like paying full price for an item that’s on sale,” said Sandy Cardy, vp of tax and estate planning for Mackenzie Financial.

“Canadians appear to know the basics — over 90% are aware of RRSP tax implications for example — but speaking to a tax advisor about additional tax strategies is the way for Canadians to get the best bang for their buck,” added Cardy.

For the survey, 1,565 Canadians were asked 10 True or False questions.

The survey found several important regional variations.

Quebeckers scored even lower than the rest of the country, getting only five answers correct. However, Quebec was the only province that scored correctly on the Canada Revenue Agency question on gifting poor performing stocks.

Atlantic Canada was the only region to correctly answer the question about paying adult children to take care of younger children in the household and deducting the cost of child-care expenses.

The Prairies were markedly savvy about taxes compared to the rest of Canadians, scoring higher on two key questions: taking advantage of children’s unclaimed credits for tuition (12% higher) and the interest costs of borrowing to invest are tax deductible (8% higher).

“There are tax savings Canadians can take advantage of both on an individual and family level. If they don’t score this test perfectly, then they should speak to a professional,” Cardy concluded.

The survey results are based on a Leger Marketing national online survey with a representative sample of 1,565 Canadians (18 years and older), with 787 between ages 40-60 between September 7th and 12, 2005. A sample of this size will provide results that can be considered accurate for the population overall to within plus or minus 3.5%, 19 times out of 20.