There are many ways governments can increase both tax fairness and their revenues. The federal government promised to reduce regressive tax loopholes and tax expenditures. These would provide significant additional revenues for the federal and provincial governments.
For example:
- Eliminating the stock option deduction which allows CEOs to pay tax at half the rate that workers do, would provide the federal government with an additional $700 million annually and about $400 million more annually for provincial governments.
- Taxing income from capital gains and investments at the same rate as other income would provide the federal government with at least $10 billion more annually, and provinces with at least $5 billion more annually.
- Increasing the federal corporate income tax rate to the 21 per cent rate it was in 2006 would provide the federal government with an additional $10 billion in revenues.
- Leveling the playing field and taxing foreign e-commerce companies like Uber, AirBnB, Netflix, Facebook, Amazon and Google on the business they do in Canada would generate about $1 billion, and would help preserve jobs in Canada.