Improving the Tax Treatment of Intellectual Property Income in Canada

Canada should consider adopting an “Innovation Box” approach to encourage business investment in innovative processes that improve productivity, growth, and incomes, according to a new report released from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Improving the Tax Treatment of Intellectual Property Income in Canada,” authors Nick Pantaleo, Finn Poschmann and Scott Wilkie say federal tax policy should complement tax-based support for research and development (R&D) spending by encouraging the adoption, commercialization and use of innovative ideas -- in short, a pull, as well as a push, into R&D activity.