VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- By reducing personal income tax rates, the federal government could facilitate the creation of 110,000 new private sector jobs, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank.

“Due to the unprecedented job losses caused by COVID-19 and the lockdowns, governments must enact polices to help grow the economy and create jobs, and tax policy is a good place to start,” said Ergete Ferede, professor of economics at MacEwan University and author of Will Cutting Income Taxes Create Jobs for Canadians?

Higher income tax rates reduce after-tax income, reducing the incentives to work and discouraging entrepreneurship, which hurts private-sector job creation.

According to the study, if the federal government reduced the top personal income tax rate from 33 per cent back down to 29 per cent (the rate before the 2016 tax hike), it would facilitate the creation of approximately 110,000 private-sector jobs the following year.

“If Ottawa wants to encourage private sector job creation and help spur the COVID recovery, it should consider reducing the top personal income rate.”

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jake Fuss, Senior Policy Analyst
Fraser Institute

Ergete Ferede, Professor of Economics, MacEwan University

To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:
Drue MacPherson, Fraser Institute
(604) 688-0221 ext. 721
drue.macpherson@fraserinstitute.org

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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org