The number of taxpayers reporting investment income and the amount of investment income they reported both rebounded in 2004, Statistics Canada said today.

More than 7.5 million people reported just under $31.3 billion of income from investments in 2004, according to income tax returns filed in the spring of 2005.

The number of tax filers reporting investment income rose 2.0%, while the income itself was up 1.8%. Investment income refers to the interest and dividend income reported from investments in non-tax-sheltered vehicles. Income earned in RRSPs or RRIFs, and capital gains, are excluded.

The increases followed three consecutive years of declines in the number of persons reporting such income, and two years of declines in the amounts. The proportion of taxfilers reporting investment income remained relatively stable at 33% last year, after continual declines since 2000.

The number of investors rose in all provinces and territories except Nunavut where it remained stable. The amount of dividend and interest income rose in most provinces and territories although there were small declines in New Brunswick, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

The number of investors rose 6.3%, while the income they reported went up 4.6%. On the other hand, the number of savers declined 0.9% to 4.4 million in 2004. Savers are defined as those who reported interest income, but not dividend income, whereas investors are those who reported dividend income.

The amount of savers’ interest income reported in 2004 fell 7.1% to $6.9 billion, about the same decline as in 2003. However, these drops were not nearly as steep as in 2002 when interest income reported fell by 25.5% compared with the previous year. Investors reported $24.3 billion of dividend and interest income.

The median investment income reported in 2004 was $460.