Who Paid the Taxes in Canada, 1951-1988

Irwin W. Gillespie, Frank Vermaeten () and Arndt Vermaeten ()
Additional contact information
Irwin W. Gillespie: Department of Economics, Carleton University
Frank Vermaeten: International Monetary Fund, http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
Arndt Vermaeten: Department of Finance, Government of Canada

Carleton Economic Papers from Carleton University, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper measures the changes in total tax incidence in Canada for selected years from 1951 to 1988. It presents the first set of time-consistent estimates of the effect of all Canadian taxes on the distribution of income in Canada. The methodology builds up a comprehensive measure of broad income, which includes the first inflation-adjusted measure of capital income in a tax incidence study. The key findings are that over 1951-88: (1) average tax rates for the poorest 10 percent and the richest 2 percent of Canadian families fell, whereas tax rates for most other families in the middle rose; (2) while in 1951 the tax incidence pattern was regressive over the low income range and highly progressive over the upper income range, it has evolved into one that resembles a flat rate tax system, with some progressivity over the lower income range and for the richest 2 percent of Canadian families.

Keywords: taxation; fiscal policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 1995-01, Revised 1995-09
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published: – revised version in Canadian Public Policy, Vol. 21, No. 3 (September 1995), pp. 317–343

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:car:carecp:95-02

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