Report Estimates Benefits Of Ontario's Tax Plan

A report released today by economist and tax expert Jack Mintz states that a harmonized sales tax combined with Ontario's proposed corporate income tax cuts and other recent tax changes would significantly increase jobs, boost capital investment and lead to higher annual incomes for Ontarians.

The report predicts that over the next 10 years, as a result of these tax measures, Ontario would see:

• 591,000 net new jobs
• Increased capital investment of $47 billion
• Increased annual incomes of up to 8.8 per cent, or $29.4 billion.

The report concludes that, as a result of major tax reforms, Ontario would become more competitive internationally, with a lower tax burden on new investment compared to the average of 20 major industrialized and emerging economies.

And it states that small businesses would benefit substantially as the effective tax rate on their business investment would fall by more than half from 28.6 to 13.3 per cent.

Jack Mintz is the Palmer Chair of Public Policy at the University of Calgary.
The report was commissioned by the Ontario Ministry of Finance through a competitive procurement process.