What is the role of taxation in ameliorating inequality? What role have taxes played and what effect have they had?

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The Answer is Taxes play a key role in the nature of inequality in a society as they are a tool used by governments to redistribute wealth (or not) between individuals. Students can mention that the impact of taxation is evident when we inspect the Gini coefficient of market income with the Gini coefficient of after-tax income. Students may also draw attention to different tax rates within Canada (Quebec especially) and make note of its impact on a fairer society. Students should also mention that not all taxes are equal in their redistributive effects. Income taxes are mostly progressive whereas consumption taxes are mostly regressive. When discussing the past and the present, it is important to keep in mind that taxes such as the Chinese head tax was once used as a means of restricting entrance into Canada by "undesirable" groups. Moving forward, the finding of the CPP and QPP by payroll taxes poses serious questions about our ability to fund our welfare state as the proportion of working individuals in Canada declines.

What Is the Role of Taxation in Ameliorating Inequality? What