Open Data

Alberta Tax Advantage, 2013

Description

The Alberta Tax Advantage is a set of estimates of the additional tax burdens Albertans and Alberta businesses would be subject to if Alberta had the tax systems of other provinces. The estimates are published each year in the provincial budget. Tax advantage estimates are calculated for personal and corporate income taxes, sales taxes, health care premiums, payroll taxes, fuel taxes, and other taxes, which includes tourism levy, capital taxes, land transfer taxes, tobacco taxes, and revenue from alcohol sales (Alberta does not tax alcohol sales, but does levy a liquor mark-up. Other provinces tax alcohol sales, so all provincial revenues collected from alcohol sales are included for comparative purposes). Each estimate is then used to determine the tax advantage or disadvantage that Albertans or Alberta businesses have as a result of the structure of Alberta’s tax system over the tax system in the other province. The estimates are aggregated to determine the total advantage provided by Alberta’s tax system. The estimates are calculated by applying the known tax rates of other provinces to Alberta tax bases. For example, the fuel tax rates for other provinces are applied to Alberta fuel volumes, while provincial personal income tax systems are applied to Alberta tax filer data. If a province levies a tax that is not levied in Alberta, the tax burden and Alberta tax base will be estimated using alternative methods.

Updated

May 15, 2015

Tags
Tax advantage comparison provinces

Title and Dataset Information

Date Modified

2015-05-15

Update Frequency

Annual

Publisher / Creator Information

Publisher

Treasury Board and Finance

Subject Information

Topic
Government
Start Date

2013-01-01

End Date

2013-12-31

Resource Dates

Date Created

2015-05-13

Date Added to catalogue

2015-05-13T19:23:44.736511

Date Issued

2013-07-10

Date Modified

2015-05-15

Audience information

Identifiers

Usage / Licence

Usage Considerations

Adapted from Statistics Canada data. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.

The Alberta advantage can be used to estimate the advantage that Alberta’s tax system provides to Albertans and Alberta business. The estimates are calculated using tax rates, tax structures, and the corresponding Alberta tax bases that are known or estimated at a specific point in time (usually in January or February when budget documents are drafted).

Taxpayer behaviour would differ under alternative tax structures. These estimates, however, assume no behavioural responses to changes in the tax system.

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