Rain levy: The weird-tax hall of fame has a new entrant from Toronto

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Key Points

Taxes and death are two of lifes great certainties, we have always been told..

Take taxation, the less morbid of these two..

As its name suggests, the motive of this taxto be bundled in with peoples water billsis to nudge land usage in favour of permeability and thus drainage, making the city less vulnerable to floods..

Since land-use patterns usually respond only slowly to tax incentives, it could be years before any difference is made, especially if Canadas urban living-space crunch worsens..

In Switzerland and Germany, for instance, theres a dog tax that varies by the canines weight and breed and whose mop-up is meant to fund public provisions for these pets..