The Canadian government’s recent leaps in tax revenues were a pleasant surprise for voters following an extremely long and unusual period of budget deficits. If these increases are not temporary but result from economic growth that will remain stronger than in the past on a permanent basis, the question arises of how to use these budget “surpluses.” This Note looks at these questions, first presenting the potential impact of introducing a dual-rate tax system as proposed by the Canadian Alliance party and then identifying elements in a tax system to support rises in productivity, employment and living standards.

The Canadian Alliance flat tax proposal.

Reduced corporate and individual tax rates and its impact on economical growth.

Reduced corporate and individual tax rates and its impact on economical growth.

The flat tax.

The harmful effects of the capital gains tax.

The effect of capital gains taxes.

The effect of capital gains taxes.

The harmful effects of the capital gains tax.

Prosperity requires that people abandon old ways of doing things, old industries and bet on new ways and new industries. To achieve that transition, capital must move from yesterday’s industries to those of the future. The move is a bet. People experiment. Experiments must be financed. Financing requires mobility of capital: people having the incentives to switch money from one enterprise to another. If this switch is taxed – and capital gains taxes are a tax on just such a switch – the incentives to shift resources out of the old and toward a better match diminish.