Canada Should Drop ‘Distorting’ Mining Tax Breaks, Mintz Says

Canadian provinces should eliminate tax breaks for mining companies because they have a “distorting” effect on investment, said Jack Mintz, an economist at the University of Calgary.

The incentives spur investment in projects that might otherwise be uneconomic, according to a report published today by Mintz, director of the university’s School of Public Policy, and Duanjie Chen, a research fellow at the school. Provincial governments should drop special tax credits and a “generous” depreciation allowance for mining investments and instead adopt a rent-based cash-flow tax for the industry, they said.