page_title: History of wealth taxes in Canada
section_title: Collection in Ontario
hierarchical_section_title: History of wealth taxes in Canada / Provincial succession duties / Collection in Ontario
caption_attribution_description: Booth, John Rudolphus 1826 - Dec. 8, 1925
context_page_description: Inheritance and gift taxes in Canada have a complex history dating back to Canadian Confederation. They are beginning to see a return to prominence in the provincial sphere.
context_section_description: Ontario was especially notable in its pursuit of duties. Mitchell Hepburn, in his capacity as Treasurer of Ontario, adopted a more aggressive approach in their collection on large estates, which resulted in millions of dollars in extra government revenues. He made no apologies for doing so, as he noted in a speech in 1938.
  In 1937, legislation was passed that allowed for reexamination of estates for deaths that had occurred back to the beginning of 1916, and also included many gifts inter vivos within the duty's scope. Hepburn consequently ordered that all files relating to estates worth $500,000 or more, together with those of smaller estates where evasion was suspected, were to be reopened, with the expectation of raising further duties anywhere from $70 million to $100 million. The collection tactics employed included the seizure of books and records without a warrant, different methods for valuing assets, and the assessment of penalties that could amount to double or triple the amount of the duty involved.
  One estate of particular focus in this campaign was that of the late John Rudolphus Booth, who had died in 1925. Although succession duties of $4.28 million were paid in 1927, Hepburn subsequently claimed more in 1937. Booth's heirs eventually paid another $3 million in 1939.
caption: John Rudolphus Booth, whose estate was Hepburn's principal target
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