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Taxation and top incomes in Canada

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  • Kevin Milligan
  • Michael Smart

Abstract

We estimate the elasticity of reported income with respect to tax rates for high earners using sub‐national variation across Canadian provinces. We argue this allows for better identification of tax elasticities than the existing literature. We find that elasticities of reported income at the provincial level are large for incomes in the top 1%, but small for lower earners. There are strong indications that the response happens both through earned and capital income. While our estimated elasticities are large, changes in tax rates cannot explain much of the overall long‐run trend of higher income concentration in Canada. Fiscalité et revenus les plus élevés au Canada. Les auteurs évaluent l'élasticité du revenu déclaré par rapport aux taux d'imposition pour les revenus les plus élevés en utilisant les variations intra‐nationales à travers les provinces du Canada. Ils suggèrent que cela produit une meilleure identification des élasticités que ce que contient la littérature pour le moment. On découvre que les élasticités du revenu déclaré sont élevées pour les 1 % au sommet, mais faibles pour les revenus plus bas. Il appert fortement que la réponse se produit tant pour les revenus gagnés que pour les revenus d'investissement. Même si les élasticités mesurées sont élevées, les changements dans les taux d'imposition ne peuvent pas expliquer beaucoup de la tendance à long terme vers une plus forte concentration des hauts revenus au Canada.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin Milligan & Michael Smart, 2015. "Taxation and top incomes in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 655-681, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:48:y:2015:i:2:p:655-681
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12139
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephen Gordon, 2020. "The incidence of income taxes on high earners in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(2), pages 437-459, May.
    2. Liam C. Malloy, 2016. "Do Lower Top Marginal Tax Rates Slow the Income Growth of Workers?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 30(1), pages 61-87, March.
    3. Kenneth McKenzie, 2019. "Altering the Tax Mix in Alberta," SPP Research Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 12(25), September.
    4. Audra Bowlus & Émilien Gouin‐Bonenfant & Huju Liu & Lance Lochner & Youngmin Park, 2022. "Four decades of Canadian earnings inequality and dynamics across workers and firms," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1447-1491, November.
    5. Bev Dahlby & Kevin Milligan, 2017. "From theory to practice: Canadian economists contributions to public finance," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1324-1347, December.
    6. Garon, Jean-Denis & Paquet, Alain, 2017. "Les enjeux d'efficience et la fiscalité," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 93(3), pages 297-337, Septembre.
    7. Alexandre Laurin, 2018. "Unhappy Returns: A Preliminary Estimate of Taxpayers Responsiveness to the 2016 Top Tax Rate Hike," e-briefs 283, C.D. Howe Institute.
    8. Nicolas Zorn & Olivier Jacques, 2017. "Under the Rising Wave. How Disaggregated Revenue Sources Can Tell Another Story for Québec’s Top Income Share," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 25(1), pages 1-25, March.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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