Unhappy Returns: A Preliminary Estimate of Taxpayers Responsiveness to the 2016 Top Tax Rate Hike

The top 1 percent of earners reacted strongly to the federal tax hike on high earners 2016, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Unhappy Returns: A Preliminary Estimate of Taxpayers Responsiveness to the 2016 Top Tax Rate Hike,” author Alexandre Laurin finds the underlying behavioural response of taxpayers resulted in $1.2 billion in fresh revenue for the federal government but cost provincial treasuries about $1.3 billion in lost tax revenues.