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1. Memo to Doug Ford—Ontario desperately needs personal income tax reform

   Due to last week’s election victory, Doug Ford is Ontario’s premier-designate. However, now comes the difficult task of governing. While there’s no shortage of pressing policy issues for the province, tax relief should be top of mind ...

2. Trump reforms lay bare Canadian policy missteps

   Prime Minister Trudeau has stated unequivocally that he won’t reduce Canadian taxes to remain competitive. ...

3. How can people so smart understand economics so little?

   Everybody complains about the pace of change these days, but most people seem to adapt pretty well. One way things are different now is podcasts. They’re the medium of choice for more and more people while driving, exercising or, in my ...

4. Tax hatred? No, tax awareness and tax reform

   Among the modern criteria for a good tax system are the principles of efficiency and equity. But another important principle is also awareness—that is, taxpayers should be aware of the taxes the pay and the benefits they receive from ...

5. The case for federal personal income tax reform in Canada

   On the 100th anniversary of Canada’s federal personal income tax (PIT), the federal government would be wise to consider reforming personal income taxes by eliminating several “tax expenditures” (tax credits, deductions and other special ...

6. Economics of a U.S. VAT

   A recent lead editorial in one of the world’s most prominent newspapers, the Wall Street Journal, pointed out the risks associated with the United States adopting a national sales tax, or value-added tax (VAT). ...

7. Income splitting not the best economic bang for the buck

     After seven consecutive years of budget deficits, the federal government is finally set to balance the budget. While the government has long expressed that tax relief is its top post-deficit priority, the major question has always been: what form will ...

8. BC's business tax regime needs a competitive jump start- here's how

   Appeared in the Vancouver Province One item sorely missing from Finance Minister Mike de Jong's recent provincial budget was a plan to make BC's business taxes more competitive and attractive for investment. When the province shifted back to the ...

9. Want a sales tax? Drop another tax

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald There might be a thousand reasons why people hate sales taxes. Here are three: First, they’re visible; second, in Alberta, where no provincial sales tax exists, there is justifiable pride that people have escaped at least ...

10. Lessons from Abroad: Flat Tax in Practice

    There are now more than 20 jurisdictions using the flat tax and this number is expected to continue growing, most of the nations are transition economies in Eastern and Central Europe but there are a handful of wealthy economies that use this simple and ...