Testimony: International Tax Avoidance
Lawmakers should aim for policies that support investment and hiring in the United States and refining anti-avoidance measures to improve administrability and lower compliance costs.
Lawmakers should aim for policies that support investment and hiring in the United States and refining anti-avoidance measures to improve administrability and lower compliance costs.
With proposals to adopt the nation’s highest corporate income tax, second-highest individual income tax, and most aggressive treatment of foreign earnings, as well as to implement an unusually high tax on property transfers, Vermont lawmakers have no shortage of options for raising taxes dramatically.
7 min readHistorical evidence and recent studies have shown that retaliatory tax and trade proposals raise prices and reduce the quantity of goods and services available to U.S. businesses and consumers, resulting in lower incomes, reduced employment, and lower economic output.
5 min readThe Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) reformed the U.S. system for taxing international corporate income. Understanding the impact of TCJA’s international provisions thus far can help lawmakers consider how to approach international tax policy in the coming years.
30 min readLawmakers will have to weigh the economic, revenue, and distributional trade-offs of extending or making permanent the various provisions of the TCJA as they decide how to approach the upcoming expirations. A commitment to growth, opportunity, and fiscal responsibility should guide the approach.
18 min readThe 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was the largest corporate tax reform in a generation, lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, temporarily allowing full expensing for short-lived assets (referred to as bonus depreciation), and overhauling the international tax code.
6 min readPolicymakers on Capitol Hill should prioritize permanent pro-growth policy in the coming years as the economy struggles with inflation and the recovery from the pandemic.
4 min readThe global minimum tax agreement known as Pillar Two is intended to curb profit shifting. However, OECD countries already have a variety of mechanisms in place that seek to prevent base erosion and profit shifting by multinational corporations.
40 min readSimplicity in the tax code means taxes should be easy for taxpayers to pay and easy for governments to administer and collect.
Congress should recognize that Pillar Two has significant U.S.-specific downsides, but also that it cannot unilaterally stop Pillar Two from taking effect. Instead, it should carefully consider a policy response for the next Congress, when a variety of forces are likely to compel it to act.
7 min readA major case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court (Moore v. United States) is calling into question provisions on large portions of the U.S. tax base which could quickly become legally uncertain, putting significant revenue at stake.
7 min readA growing international tax agreement known as Pillar Two presents two new threats to the US tax base: potential lost revenue and limitations on Congress’s ability to set its own tax policy.
39 min readLawmakers should focus on simplifying the federal tax code, creating stability, and broadly improving economic incentives. There are incremental steps that can be made on the path to fundamental tax reform.
The JCT analysis raises some useful questions for the U.S. domestic debate over Pillar Two. The Treasury Department should examine its support for an agreement that will reduce its own revenue intake. But it is also worth noting that the principal mechanism for the revenue reduction—the foreign tax credit—is a policy already baked into U.S. law, including the Republican-enacted global minimum tax from 2017. The OECD deal merely takes advantage of this longstanding feature.
6 min readAs the UTPR is a new concept, it is worth explaining what it is and why Rep. Smith cares about it. In a sentence, the Undertaxed Profits Rule (UTPR) is a looming extraterritorial enforcement mechanism for a tax base the U.S. has not adopted.
6 min readEven in the face of a global minimum tax, Congress still has a chance to develop a strategic approach in support of U.S. investment and innovation.
By letting the corporate surtax expire, eliminating taxes on GILTI, and embracing full expensing, New Jersey would take important steps toward creating a more welcoming and competitive tax environment.
6 min readAs policymakers in St. Paul finalize this year’s tax bill, they should avoid policies that incentivize the diversion or relocation of capital. Importantly, states do not institute tax policy in a vacuum. The evidence from states’ experiences and the academic literature supports the conclusion that tax competitiveness matters not just to businesses but to human flourishing.
15 min readAccording to our analysis, President Biden’s budget would reduce long-run economic output by about 1.3 percent and eliminate 335,000 FTE jobs. See what tax policies the president is proposing.
17 min read