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Canada-U.S. Tax Comparisons

In the increasingly global economy, domestic tax policies have taken on a new importance for international economics. This unique volume compares the tax reform experiences of Canada and the United States, two countries with the world’s largest bilateral flow of trade and investment.

With the signing of the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement and the tax reforms of the 1980s, there has been some harmonization of tax systems. But geographic, cultural, and political characteristics shape distinct national social policies that may impede harmonization. As the U.S. and Canadian economies become even more integrated, differences in tax systems will have important effects, in particular on the relative rates of economic growth.

In this timely study, scholars from both countries show that, while the United States and Canada exhibit similar corporate tax structures and income tax systems, they have very different approaches to sales tax and social security taxes. Despite these differences, the two countries generate roughly the same amounts of revenue, produce similar costs of capital, and produce comparable distributions of income.

Table of Contents

Introduction, William T. Alpert, John B. Shoven, and John Whalley Pressures for the Harmonization of Income Taxation between Canada and the United States, Robin Boadway and Neil Bruce Canada-U.S. Free Trade and Pressures for Tax Coordination, Roger H. Gordon Income Security via the Tax System: Canadian and American Reforms, Jonathan R. Kesselman Tax Incidence: Annual and Lifetime Perspectives in the United States and Canada, James B. Davies Tax Effects on the Cost of Capital, Kenneth J. McKenzie and Jack M. Mintz The Cost of Capital in Canada, the United States, and Japan, John B. Shoven and Michael Topper The Impact of U.S. Tax Reform on Canadian Stock Prices, Joel Slemrod Tax Aspects of Policy toward Aging Populations, Alan J. Auerbach and Laurence J. Kotlikoff Taxation and Housing Markets, James M. Poterba What Can the United States Learn from the Canadian Sales Tax Debate?, Charles E. McLure, Jr. Subnational Tax Harmonization, Canada and the United States: Intent, Results, and Consequences, Francois Vaillancourt Reflections on Canada-U.S. Tax Differences: Two Views, Richard A. Musgrave and Thomas A. Wilson

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