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1. Ottawa drops hints for 2014 budget

     Fiscal policy is really about taxes and spending and the federal government recently provided some hints on its plans in these areas. In the recent Speech from the Throne, the government reaffirmed its commitment to balancing the budget by 2015-16 and ...

2. The Economic Costs of Increased Marginal Tax Rates in Canada

   Economists often focus on marginal tax rates (the extra tax an individual (or firm) will owe to the government for engaging in a little more of the taxed activity) as particularly important for altering economic behaviour. The marginal tax rate is ...

3. Canadians Celebrate Tax Freedom Day on June 10, 2013

   The Fraser Institute annually calculates Tax Freedom Day in order to provide a comprehensive and easily understood indicator of the overall tax burden faced by the average Canadian family. In 2013, Tax Freedom Day fell on June 10, two days later than 2012 ...

4. How Much We Pay in Taxes: 1961 vs 2012

   Appeared in the Huffington Post Discussions about taxes are inevitably polarizing. Some Canadians think taxes are too high while others happily pay their share. But given the litany of taxes levied on us by the three levels of government, it is nearly ...

5. Save Alberta from the high-taxers

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald and Financial Post In a recent debate on the pages of the National Post many Albertans might have missed, two economists, Rhys Kesselman from Simon Fraser University, and Jack Mintz from the University of Calgary, sparred ...

6. Tax Compliance Costs in Canada

   Appeared in the Red Deer Advocate As the stress of the April 30th tax filing deadline fades and the shock realization by most Canadians regarding how much income and payroll taxes they pay subsides, it’s worthwhile considering the costs imposed on ...

7. The Compliance and Administrative Costs of Taxation in Canada 2013

   There are a number of economic costs associated with taxes, some of which unfortunately, are almost always ignored or misunderstood. The direct and most visible cost of taxes is simply the tax itself. It is the amount of earnings that individuals or ...

8. Income tax only a portion of our total tax bill(2)

   Appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press and Trail Daily Times Unless analyzing tax policy is part of your day job, you likely avoid thinking about what ultimately can be a polarizing topic. But with the deadline for filing our income tax returns around the ...

9. Pick your poison on taxes in BC's election

   Appeared in the Vancouver Sun British Columbia is officially in election mode and the parties are rolling out their campaign promises. When it comes to the tax promises of the two mainstream parties, British Columbians are confronted with a choice, as it ...

10. Are All Tax Cuts Good?

    Appeared in the Globe and Mail Economy Lab Milton Friedman was famous for his one-liners. One of his most repeated lines was: “I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible.” ...