Quebecers are the most heavily taxed citizens in North America. The top marginal personal tax rate is higher than in any other province, and hits the Quebec taxpayer beginning at the relatively low income of $53 405. In fact, the top marginal rate is reached faster in Quebec than in any of the G-7 countries. The promised reduction could correct this situation by reducing marginal rates by one third. The time is right to implement a real tax reform in Quebec.

Tax reductions and their effects on the economy.

The tax and regulatory burden in Quebec.

The MEI launches a study on the tax and regulatory burden people in Quebec are forced to bear.

In his inaugural address opening Quebec’s 37th legislature, newly elected Premier Jean Charest stated that taxes must be lowered not just for the pleasure of it but “because it is necessary, because our tax load is an obstacle to our development.” What exactly is the current situation? What is the weight of this tax and regulatory burden that people in Quebec are forced to bear?

Comparing the tax situation between Canada and the USA.

How to best organize the financing, production and distribution of public services.

Three criteria to judge the tax system.

Can we increase tax revenues by lowering tax rates?

In the late 1990s, the Quebec government put in place a number of incentives worth more than 2 billion dollars in order to attract related firms in designated zones. This "cités industrielles" policy, whose most prominent examples are Montreal's Cité Multimédia and Cité du commerce électronique, and Quebec City's Centre national des nouvelles technologies, seeks to create "synergies" between firms and to revitalize certain urban areas. This policy is not based on any detailed analysis.