ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY
1
Funding Options for Basic Income that don't tax most Canadians or productive investment
2
Accompanying UBI Works Article: How to Pay for Basic Income
3
4
Summary
5
Net Cost of Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) $ 36,338,000,000
6
7
Funding options that don’t tax most Canadians or productive investments $ 34,100,000,000
8
Contributions from our financial sector $ 15,100,000,000
9
Fewer tax breaks for large companies $ 10,300,000,000
10
Fewer subsidies for the wealthiest $ 8,700,000,000
11
12
Cost Estimates AmountSourceNote
13
Gross Cost of Guaranteed Basic Income by Economic Family (GBI) $ 56,974,000,000 PBO (Feb 2025)Gross cost for a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) that guarantees all Canadians aged 18 to 64 an income of at least 75% of the Low-Income Measure (LIM; approximately $21,903 for an individual and $30,975 for a couple in 2025-26), reduced by $0.50 per dollar of employment income, and dollar for dollar of EI and CPP payments. Inclued an additional $7,355 universal individual disability amount to acount for the replacement of need-specifc program replacements. This also includes projections of lost income tax revenue due to slight reduction in working hours for some recipients.
14
Total Federal Refundable Tax Credits and Program Replacement $ (12,174,000,000)PBO Supplementary Data (Feb 2025)Total amount of Federal Refundable Tax Credits and Programs that might be replaced by the GBI as listed by the PBO.
15
Total Provincial Refundable Tax Credits and Program Replacement $ (23,259,000,000)PBO Supplementary Data (Feb 2025)Total amount of Provincial Refundable Tax Credits and Programs that might be replaced by the GBI as listed by the PBO.
16
Interaction $ 14,797,000,000 PBO Supplementary Data (Feb 2025)
As refundable tax credits are reduced some families incomes would decline resulting in a greater qualification for the GBI, therefore alleviating some of the offset potential of replacing those programs' costs.
17
Net Cost $ 36,338,000,000
18
19
Our plan is designed for following criteria:
20
1. Does not materially impact households earning less than $100,000/year (91% of tax filers), and in many cases not even $150K/year (97% of filers).
21
2. Does not discourage entrepreneurship and private capital investment and encourages economic growth.
22
 3. It is feasible: it works within our existing tax code or has strong international precedent.
23
24
Tax ReformAmountSourceDescription
25
Contributions from our financial sector
26
Financial transactions tax (FTT) of 0.25% on wealth portfolios $ 7,800,000,000 Vivic ResearchA financial transactions tax is a fee or duty placed upon the sale, purchase, transfer, or registration of a financial instrument, which is already in effect in major jurisdictions including Hong Kong, UK, France, and Italy. This tax would fall predominantly on those who have large financial portfolios, which are disproportionately among the wealthiest Canadians.
27
Financial activities tax (FAT) of 4% on financial institutions (banks, insurance) $ 7,300,000,000 Vivic ResearchA financial activities tax – a tax on total profits and remuneration in the financial sector – is another revenue-generating mechanism available to the federal government that is currently used in Québec, France, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Israel.
28
Fewer tax breaks for large companies
29
Apply corporate tax rate to multinationals based on the proportion of sales in Canada $ 6,100,000,000 Vivic ResearchThis measure proposes that the net income of multinational enterprises (MNEs) be taxed in Canada based on the share of the MNE’s global sales that occur in Canada. The proportion of net income that firms allocate to Canada would be taxed at the domestic corporate tax rate.
30
Restrict interest deductibility to no more than 20% corporate earnings $ 2,500,000,000 Canadians for Tax FairnessThis measure proposes restricting interest deductibility to no more than 20% of corporate earnings income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for corporations with net interest expenses of more than $150,000.
31
Withholding tax of 1% on the value of business assets held in tax havens $ 1,700,000,000 Vivic ResearchThis proposal would implement a 1% withholding tax on the value of assets held by Canadian corporations in recognized tax havens.
32
Fewer subsidies for the wealthiest
33
Convert the RRSP/RPP Tax Deduction into a 15% Refundable Tax Credit $ 8,700,000,000 Vivic ResearchThis measure proposes that RRSP and RPP contribution deductions be reformed to a refundable tax credit valued at 15% of the contribution. The current deductions offered through RPPs and RRSPs reduce the amount of taxes paid by filers. In contrast, a refundable tax credit would provide a payment to filers equal to 15% of the the amount of money contributed to the RPP or RRSP in a year.
34
Total Funding Options$34,100,000,000
35
36
Other factors that could reduce the true cost of Basic IncomeAmountSourceDescription
37
National cost of poverty $80,000,000,000+ Ontario Association of Food BanksThe cost of poverty in Canada has been estimated at $73 to $86 billion a year. This includes the increased costs to our healthcare, justice and social services systems, the intergenerational costs of poverty, and the staggering losses to productivity that result from systemic poverty. The $4.3 billion in downstream cost savings already factored into the net cost likely only account for a small fraction of the total cost of poverty.

This estimate by the Ontario Association of Foodbanks was published in 2008. The cost of poverty has very likely increased significantly since then, making $80 billion a conservative estimate.
38
Potential tax revenues from increased economic activity $10,000,000,000+ Vivic ResearchBasic income could produce an economic multiplier effect, where each dollar invested into basic income spurs more than a dollar of economic activity and a resulting increase in tax revenues. We already see this with the Canada Child Benefit, a basic income for families: each $1 invested results in $2 of economic growth, and 55 cents of that is recouped in taxes from economic activity. See 'Funding Projections' on page 32 for estimates of additional tax revenue multipliers across various funding scenarios, which show a lower bound of $10B in additional yearly tax revenue multipliers in the first 5 years.
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100