Taxing for growth

This Working Paper calls for a revision to the basic personal allowances, the conversion of the tuition and education credits to grants, and a reassessment of federal and provincial personal tax credits. [...] Some of these suggestions are timely; for instance, this Working Paper calls for the reform of the federal Children’s Fitness Credit when the federal government plans to double the size of the credit. [...] The analysis is in two parts: the first examines some of the tax expenditures that are available for individuals and assesses whether they are consistent with a “smart” taxation system; the second looks at the effectiveness of different forms of business support in Ontario. [...] The downside A select group of federal non- of this approach is that the income refundable tax credits available to revise basic personal based claw back of the transfer would Canadians should be reassessed.10 allowance reduce the returns to working, so While there are positive social policy makers would have to ensure benefits to the activities the credits The Basic Personal Allowance (BPA) that [...] A study from the Canadian on the number of tax filers who Millennium Scholarship Foundation claimed this credit or the amount •. The BPA accrues disproportionately examined these credits and found it cost the government, though to middle and higher income groups them ineffective at encouraging the government forecast in the in comparison to lower income young Canadians to pursue higher 2011 Budget