Canadian governments are undercutting progress in reducing corporate income and capital taxes with counter-productive policies that impose unequal tax burdens across assets and industries. The study highlights priorities for improving the tax system by reducing taxes on capital investment and...

This paper assesses the current Colombian mining tax and royalty regime in terms of efficiency, competitiveness and revenue performance vis-a-vis other relevant mining countries. It then discusses the convenience of introducing a Resource Rent Tax (RRT) to new mining projects (together with a...

On January 1 2002 the Mexican Congress approved the 2002 budget, ratifying a US $ 7.5 billion tax package, which included a new Income Tax Law. This tax package reflected a second attempt by President Vicente Fox’s government at comprehensive tax reform in Mexico during 2001. The first tax...

This paper discusses the implications of tax policy for the growth of entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Some existing features of OECD tax systems are biased against entrepreneurs and small firms. For instance, double taxation of distributed corporate profits can...

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has had a profound impact on Mexico's economy and institutions. Clearly, no consideration of tax reform can ignore its role. The thinking about tax reform in Mexico requires evaluating NAFTA's effect on Mexico's economy, including its tax...

The paper summarizes the main weaknesses of Jordan’s current incentive program. Because of these weaknesses, Jordan’s long history of investment incentives has proven not to attract significant capital investment in areas favored by government. Instead, these measures have simply eroded the...

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s business tax relief goals are a welcome start to tax relief, but should be accompanied by a broadening of the corporate tax base to make taxes more neutral and fair and enable future reductions, according to a report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In Flaherty’s...

Provinces increasingly target favoured business sectors or activities for special tax treatment. Getting back on track to broad-based tax relief would make Canadians better off, without starving governments for tax revenue.

While Canadian federal and provincial governments have made progress in reducing the tax burden on business investment in recent years, the 2009 budget season also saw more counterproductive tax policies that favour certain industries and disadvantage others. In this Commentary, the authors...