levied by governments

The other three main sources of taxes levied by governments are payroll, corporate, and property taxes. Payroll taxes have grown somewhat in the past three decades, from 5.0 percent of the GDP in 1960 to 5.3 percent in 2008, in part reflecting the growth of provincial payroll taxes and increases in payroll contributions to the Canada/Quebec Pension Plans, employment insurance, and workers’ compensation. Corporate taxes, which for the most part consist of income taxes assessed on corporate profits, tend to move with the business cycle. They reached their highest level in 2000 (4.5 percent of the GDP) and fell somewhat in the past several years, because federal and provincial governments reduced corporate income tax rates and taxes on corporate capital. Property taxes, which primarily