The James Hausman Tax Law and Policy Workshop Series
presents
Michael Smart
University of Toronto
Should We Worry About Tax Havens? International Taxation in Canada
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
4:10 – 6:00 p.m.
Solarium (room FA2), Falconer Hall
84 Queen’s Park
We review Canada’s system of international taxation and evaluate it from an economic perspective. While Canada’s international tax rules have not seen fundamental reform in almost 40 years, the economic environment has changed markedly over this period. We discuss the implications for the tax system of the rise of multinational corporations, of greater openness in world capital markets, and of the increasing importance of low-tax jurisdictions and low-tax investors for the organization and financing of cross-border investments. We discuss a number of incremental reforms that have recently been proposed and analyze their likely impact on capital market neutrality, competitiveness of Canadian-resident corporations, and the potential for erosion of the domestic tax base.
Michael Smart is Professor of Economics with the Department of Economics. Professor Smart’s research interests include fiscal federalism and tax competition, political economy, taxation, and public policy. His work within the field of economics is prolific, ranging from his position as Co-Editor of the Canadian Journal of Economics and Associate Editor of both the Journal of Public Economics, and International Tax and Private Finance, to his numerous publications, including the recently published Fiscal Restraints and Voter Welfare, co-authored with Tim Besley. Professor Smart holds a B.A. from McGill University, an M.A. from the University of British Columbia, and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.
For more workshop information, please contact Nadia Gulezko at n.gulezko@utoronto.ca.
