Canadian Tax Policy

Kenneth M. Glazier was Chief Librarian Emeritus at the University of Calgary, Alberta.

Most of us deplore having to spend time making out our yearly income tax form, and many people in exasperation turn the task over to an accountant. Those who spend their professional years studying and writing about tax policy surely deserve special consideration. Boadway and Kitchen are professors of economics at Queen’s University and Trent University, respectively. They have done their assignment with competence and clarity, and the text is illuminated by numerous statistical tables and graphs.

The purpose of this work is to provide a comprehensive, current, and non-technical explanation of each of the major taxes imposed by federal, provincial, and municipal governments, the personal and corporation income taxes, commodity taxes (particularly the manufacturer’s sales tax and retail sales tax), and real and personal property taxes. A concluding chapter analyzes the system of transfer payments made to individuals by various levels of government in the form of pensions, allowances, medical care, etc. In each chapter, the authors describe the existing provisions, outline their economic effects, and survey and evaluate the structural characteristics of each tax and transfer.

Much of the information makes for interesting reading; for example, the tables reveal that the percentage of all taxpayers claiming a charitable donations deduction is highest for high-income taxpayers but, by contrast, the average claim as a percent of average assessed income is highest for low-income taxpayers. The rationale of the dividend tax credit, which is available to recipients of dividends from Canadian corporations, is enlightening.

The publication date is 1984, so the book is up to date, but the government of Canada can change the provisions at any time. In the meantime, this volume is a reliable guide to corporate and personal income tax — a topic that concerns all of us.