This article analyzes the distributional impact of the Canadian Goods and Services Tax, which was implemented in 1989, using the Social Policy Simulation and Database, a sophisticated micro-simulation tool developoed by Statistics Canada.

This article reports on the results of an analysis of the distributional impact in 1990 of the federal tax and transfer changes introduced by the Canadian government from the time of its election in 1984 through the announcement of its February 1990 budget. The analysis uses Statistics Canada's...

This paper utilizes the comprehensive data on income taxes paid by immigrants and others and the government transfer payments received by immigrants and others provided by the 2006 Census from income tax statistics. The Census data was recently made available to researchers in the 2006 Census...

An important economic trend in Canada in recent years is the increasing share of personal income going to both direct and indirect taxes. This article provides a analysis of the distributional impact of federal tax and transfer policies over the period that the Conservatives were in power...

This publication provides an estimate of the fiscal burden created by recent immigration into Canada and proposes reforms to existing immigrant selection policies to eliminate the burden. It uses a 2006 Census database to estimate the average incomes and taxes paid on these by immigrants who...

This article presents my response to methodological questions about the incidence and impact of the Canadian Goods and Services Tax raised by W. Irwin Gillespie.

The Kyoto Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is the first “global” and largest carbon offset instrument, supplementing national or regional cap and trade systems such as the European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). This paper draws on weekly IDEACarbon survey data from 2008 to...

Some economists have attacked the two-percentage point cut in the GST to 5 per cent proposed by the Conservatives in the January 2006 Canadian federal election. The main reason for this is that many economists believe that, if money was available for tax cuts, it would make more sense to use it...

This paper argues that the two-percentage point cut in the GST to 5 per cent proposed by the Conservatives in the January 2006 Canadian federal election and implemented in the 2007 budget was not “stupid” as suggested by many economists. To the contrary, it fortuitously turned out to provide...

This paper reviews the issues raised by inflation and the taxation of business and investment income under an income tax. Some evidence on the tax-induced distortions caused by inflation are presented. This includes estimates of the marginal real tax rates on new investment and the user cost of...