Canada is the most tax-competitive G7 country: report
Canadian Plastics
Economy Plastics Industry Economic Changes/ForecastCanada has become the most tax-competitive jurisdiction in the G7 countries, according to new report from The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary.
Canada has become the most tax-competitive jurisdiction in the G7 countries, according to new report from The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary.
In the third Global Tax Competitiveness Ranking, authors Jack Mintz and Duanjie Chen compare the business tax regimes of 90 countries in terms of their impact on growth.
“Thanks to recent reductions to the corporate tax rate, Canada now has the most competitive tax system for business among the G7, the 20th most competitive in the OECD and it ranks 57th among the countries we surveyed,” Mintz said. “The result has been greater investment and improved economic growth despite recessionary pressures.”
The report cross-references corporate tax rates versus government revenues from these taxes.
Despite reductions to the corporate tax rate since 2000, revenues have grown with the economy. The report attributes this to profit-shifting, meaning more companies looking to capitalize on favourable tax rates are investing in the Canadian economy.
But while Canada is raking in the benefits of its 19.9 per cent Marginal Effective Tax Rate (METR), the U.S. is perilously lagging behind with a METR of 35.6 per cent – dead last among the 34 OECD countries.
According to Mintz, though, this large gap isn’t something Canadians should be happy about.
“The U.S. is our largest trading partner and our economies are so closely linked that we really do need the U.S. to get their act together and reform their tax system,” he said. “After all, when they lose out on investment, we lose out too.”
However Canada has slipped back in the last year. Mintz and Chen identify B.C.’s decision to renege on the Harmonized Sales Tax as hurting Canada’s competitiveness.
They also issue a warning to Ontario, where a planned general corporate tax rate reduction is stalled until it can be accommodated fiscally, a decision which the authors say will cost $7.5 billion in capital investment.
The full Global Tax Competitiveness Ranking report is available at this link.
