Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2009

Subjects

Taxation, Family law, Sex discrimination

Abstract

This chapter deals with the gendered impact of tax rules that take spousal status into account. The analysis is in three parts: (1) a review of some recent developments leading to the inclusion of same-sex couples as common law partners for tax purposes in Canada; (2) a consideration of the government’s political interest in taking familial or spousal relationships into account for tax purposes; and (3) a review of particular tax rules taking spousal status into account. After asking whether these tax rules can continue to be justified, the author concludes that we should consider eliminating all reference to spousal and common law relationships from Canada’s Income Tax Act (ITA). For example, some rules have a gendered impact, one that frequently discriminates without good reason against women and in favour of men. Others are inherently flawed and poorly targeted so that they do not achieve their policy goals. Some rules can be critiqued on the basis that they are simply part of the neo-liberal privatization agenda that encourages individuals to rely on the private family for their economic security and they exclude those not in spousal or common law relationships from a variety of important benefits delivered by the tax system.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.