The Impact and Cost of Taxation in Canada: The Case for Flat Tax Reform

There is increasing interest in, and recognition of, the need for both tax reduction and tax reform in Canada. This book provides both the rationale for tax reform and a road map for that reform. The book includes five chapters from leading experts in the field and provides a persuasive, compelling case for tax reform in Canada.

The Impact of Taxes on Economic Behavior by Milagros Palacios and Kumi Harischandra offers a broad overview of the incentive effects associated with taxes that affect our decisions to work more, to save, to invest, and to engage in entrepreneurial activity.

Chapter two examines the efficiency of different taxes. It compares the economic costs of different taxes based on differing incentive-based effects with the underlying assumption that not all taxes are equal. Indeed, the evidence presented is clear that some taxes impose much lower economic costs on society and should therefore be used to a greater extent while other taxes impose much larger costs and should be used less.

Compliance and Administrative Costs of Taxation in Canada renowned University of Montreal economics professor François Vaillancourt and Jason Clemens provides readers with an understanding of the vast costs associated with administering, and complying with, our current tax system.

Chapter 4 is the first of two chapters specifically examining tax reform based on a flat-tax model. In Lessons from Abroad-Flat Tax in Practice, Dr. Patrick Basham of the Democracy Institute and Dr. Daniel Mitchell of the Cato Institute explain how flat-tax systems are not just theoretical constructs but are in fact being used successfully in a host of countries around the world.

The final chapter of the book, A Flat Tax for Canada, by renowned and pioneering Stanford University professor Alvin Rabushka and Niels Veldhuis, demolishes  the myths about flat taxes. More importantly, it presents a detailed explanation of what a flat tax would look like for individual Canadians and Canadian businesses at both the federal and provincial levels.