Who Paid the Taxes in Canada, 1951-1988?

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.