The Evolution Of Businesstaxes In Canada

This paper sets out the data sources and the approach underlying the estimates of government revenues from corporate taxes and business taxes presented in chapter 2 of the "Report of the Technical Committee on Business Taxation." The paper also expands the Report's summary presentation of the evolution of taxes collected from business in several ways. The paper first describes the estimates of the snapshot of business shares of the major tax categories for 1995, then the estimates of corporate income and capital taxes from 1950 to 1995, and of adjusted corporate profits. Finally, it describes the estimates of the components of other business taxes from 1950 to 1995 and of net business value-added. The text provides a general discussion of the approaches used in development of the estimates, and their rationales, and also draws attention to certain key characteristics of the estimates when considered a more disaggregated level than in the Report. The underlying estimates themselves, and detailed notes on data sources and approach, are contained in appendices.

A book about tax history that’s a real page-turner? Give and Take is full of surprises. A Canadian millionaire who embraced the new federal income tax in 1917. A socialist hero who deplored the burden of big government. Most surprising, twentieth-century taxes have made us richer, in political engagement and more. Taxes make the power of the state obvious, and Canadians often resisted that power. But this is not simply a tale of tax rebels. Tillotson argues that Canadians also made real contributions to democracy when they taxed wisely and paid willingly.

This paper provides an analysis of the ways in which the interaction between federal and provincial taxes on businesses can create distortions in the levels and types of taxation and identifies ways in which these distortions can be minimized or even eliminated.

Canadians can never not argue about taxes. From the Chinese head tax to the Panama Papers, from the National Policy to the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, tax grievances always inspire private resentments and public debates. But if resentment and debate persist, the terms of the debate have continually altered and adapted to reflect changing social, economic, and political conditions in Canada and the wider world. The centenary of income tax is the occasion for Canadian scholars to wrestle with past and present debates about tax equity, efficiency, and justice. Who Pays for Canada? explores the different ways governments can and should tax their peoples and evaluates how well Canada has done so. It brings together a diverse group of perspectives from academia - law, economics, political science, history, geography, philosophy, and accountancy - and from the wider world of activists and public servants. It asks how Canada compares to other countries and how other countries - especially the United States - influence Canadian tax policies. It also surveys internal tax tensions and politics, through the lenses of region and jurisdiction, as well as race, class, and gender. Reasoning from tax perplexities and reforms in the past and the present, it argues that fair taxation requires an informed populace and a democratically inclined public will. Above all, this book serves as a reminder that it is not only what counts as fair that is important, but how fairness is evaluated. Revealing how closely tax policy is tied to mainstream politics, human rights, and morality, Who Pays for Canada? represents new perspectives on a matter of tremendous national urgency.