Horizontal Equity and Property Taxation in Canada

The following paper analyzes the horizontal equity implications of property taxation in Canada. We use five shifting assumptions in our analysis. Horizontal inequality indexes developed independently by Atkinson and Plotnick are used to test to see if the 'new' view of the tax generates greater or less horizontal inequality than the 'old' view. We find that, although the new view yields greater vertical equity, it generally implies more horizontal inequality than the old view.