The authors examine the implications of Canada's response to the 2017 US tax reform. Canada's focus on accelerated tax depreciation will achieve lower marginal effective tax rates on capital for taxpaying companies, well below the US levels achieved with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that came into...

Canada’s roads, bridges, wastewater treatment centres and sewer systems are already past their prime. On average, and across the country, these key elements of municipal infrastructure are now past the halfway point of their useful lifespans. In the next 10 to 15 years, Canadian cities will...

Now is not the time to consider capping interest deductions for business taxes, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute.In “Adjusting to Reality: As Proposed, Restricting Corporate Interest Deductibility is Ill-Advised,” authors Jack Mintz and V. Balaji Venkatachalam note that the...

This paper surveys the literature on the implications of international capital mobility for national tax policies. Our main issue for consideration in this survey is whether taxation of income - specifically capital income - will survive, how border crossing investment is taxed relative to...

Canada could be about to lose its tax competitive advantage it currently enjoys in attracting investment to its oil sector: its low corporate tax and royalty rates compared to the U.S. While we will start to know better the details of a U.S. tax reform package in the next month or so, two reform...

It can be easy for Canadians who appreciate the qualities of their country to overestimate the power that it also has to lure investment in a world where so many other destinations are competing for capital. Canadians can take pride in our political stability and our highly educated workforce,...

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...

If voters kill British Columbia's Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in a June referendum, the province's economy will suffer in the long run. A rejection will spur the rebirth of the provincial retail sales tax, leading to steep increases in the marginal effective tax rates on capital and costs and a...

Canada lags behind many of its First World counterparts when it comes to business innovation, and urgently needs to improve its performance if it is to remain competitive and attractive to investment. The Expert Panel Report on Federal Support to Research and Development has recommended several...

This bulletin presents estimates of effective corporate tax rates on new capital investment for 83 countries. “Effective” tax rates take into account statutory rates plus tax-base items that affect taxes paid on new investment, such as depreciation deductions, inventory allowances, and...