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Jack Mintz: The ‘mega productivity’ tax deduction — good intentions, wrong policy

A better policy would be to lower tax rates on all investments and eliminate various deductions and credits so as to broaden the tax base

At this week’s investment summit, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a “mega-productivity” deduction that will enable companies to “expense” — that is, write them off immediately — about two-thirds of their capital assets on a permanent basis. Last year’s “super-productivity” deduction was for just 15 per cent on a time-limited basis. Business groups were as thrilled as kids in an ice cream shop — on the grounds any improvement in incentives is better than none.

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From society’s perspective, however, there is nothing mega about the new........

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