Proposed federal wealth tax could bring in nearly half a trillion dollars

The potential revenues from a federal wealth tax could go to towards public transit investments, free tuition for post-secondary education, and 100,000 non-market affordable homes each year.

Hemingway modelled revenues for a wealth tax applying to net wealth above a threshold of $10 million with three brackets and rates: 1% above $10 million, 2% above $50 million and 3% above $100 million.

Net wealth is defined as total assets (including financial assets, real property, etc.) minus any outstanding debts (including mortgages). Under this tax structure, the first $10 million of net wealth for any family is unaffected: only the portion of wealth above the threshold is taxed. A household “merely” in the wealthiest top 1% is not rich enough to be impacted by this tax, which affects only about the richest 0.5% in the first year, representing roughly 87,000 families. An even tinier share are affected by the higher brackets: roughly 8,500 families with wealth above $50 million and 3,100 above $100 million. – CCPA Report on potential wealth tax

Proposals for a wealth tax tend to have consistent support among the population, with 89% of Canadians in favour of a wealth tax, according to the CCPA.

by Adam Berls

Proposed federal wealth tax could bring in nearly half a trillion dollars

What's Trending