Fossil fuel subsidies are of enormous import to policy-makers and public opinion, making it critical to properly define them. However, traditional methodologies tend to place subsidies in the realm of tax expenditure analysis, presenting a flawed picture. A recent report on government subsidies...

In the past decade, Canada has undertaken extensive business tax reform, with sharply lower corporate income tax rates, better capital cost allowances, sales tax harmonization, and the virtual elimination of capital tax on non-financial businesses. Further changes are in store by 2012 that will...

British Columbia's harmonization of its sales tax with the federal goods and services tax (GST) will result in a giant leap in the province's competitiveness, both domestically and internationally.By 2020, the combined effect of federal and provincial corporate tax cuts and sales tax...

The purpose of this report is to provide cost of capital formulae for assessing the effects of taxation on the incentive to invest in oil and gas industries in Canada.The analysis is based on the assumption that businesses invest in capital until the after-tax rate of return on capital is equal...

This paper addresses in depth the impact of both corporate taxes and royalties on the decision to invest in the oil and gas sector for British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland & Labrador and in comparison to Texas. Similar to Chen and Mintz (2009), we estimate the...

Recent takeovers – and attempted takeovers – of strategic resource companies have renewed concerns that some of Canada's prized corporate players are falling into foreign hands. However, data shows that Canada has not been a significant attractor of multinational investment, lagging behind a...

Alberta historically has prided itself on its provincial tax advantage, and for good reason. With abundant natural resource revenues, the province has been able to leverage its advantage to attract capital and people in order to grow and diversify its economy. Low tax rates have also meant fewer...

This paper analyses whether a global unitary taxation approach to corporate income tax (CIT) can improve the ability of governments to design and administer efficient and effective tax and royalty policies for the extractive industries. Drawing upon experience with unitary approaches to...