TEMPORAL EQUITY IN TAXATION

Authors

  • GORDON BALE

Abstract

By focussing on horizontal and vertical taxation equity, tax theorists have failed to recognize temporal equity as an ancillary concept. The author attempts to expose the mistakes in tax policy stemming from this failure. After qualifying the concept in important ways, he focuses in particular on the federal government’s abandonment of the estate and gift tax field as an illustration of temporal inequity. From there the article considers the significance of temporal equity as applied to annual taxes, such as income tax, and the benefit limit advocated by the Carter Report. Finally, it assesses what the author sees as more dubious tax incentives, the Registered Home Ownership Savings Plan and the Multiple-Unit Residential Incentive, from the perspective of temporal equity. The author submits that recognition of temporal equity will aid in more effective tax policy formulations.

Keywords:

Tax Law

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Published

1977-03-01

Issue

Section

Legal Commentary