What Are the Goals of Retaliatory Tax Policies?
The US Ways and Means Committee’s “Big Beautiful Bill” includes a retaliatory provision called Section 899, along with an expansion of the base erosion and anti-abuse tax (BEAT).
7 min readSean Bray is Vice President of Global Projects at Tax Foundation and Policy Director of Tax Foundation Europe, where he researches international tax issues with a focus on tax policy in Europe.
Prior to joining the Tax Foundation, Sean Bray worked in the United States Senate on tech, telecom, and trade policy. He also interned at the European Parliament during Brexit and has experience establishing European chapters of a transatlantic think tank network based out of Yale.
Sean has a master’s degree in European Political and Governance Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, a master’s degree in International Public Affairs from the La Follette School of Public Affairs, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Sean is fluent in French and tries his best to speak German at a B2 level. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife and child.
The US Ways and Means Committee’s “Big Beautiful Bill” includes a retaliatory provision called Section 899, along with an expansion of the base erosion and anti-abuse tax (BEAT).
7 min readSean Bray interviewed Professor of Business Accounting and Taxation at the University of Kiel, Jost Heckemeyer, about the future of the EU tax mix. The interview shows that there is a trade-off between stability and flexibility in European tax policymaking. It also shows that there ought to be a balance between fairness and competitiveness when thinking about improving tax policy.
16 min readTax Foundation Europe’s Sean Bray had the opportunity to interview Professor of International Taxation at the University of Mannheim Business School, Christoph Spengel, about the future of the EU tax mix.
15 min readPolicymakers should aim for neutral tax policies that support stable revenues like VATs and avoid inviting trade conflicts with discriminatory and economically harmful policies like DSTs.
6 min readThe agreement represents a major change for tax competition, and many countries will be rethinking their tax policies for multinationals. If there is no agreement on changes to Pillar Two or digital services taxes, retaliatory American tariffs could be on the horizon.
8 min readThe variety of approaches to taxation among European countries creates a need to evaluate these systems relative to each other. For that purpose, we have developed the European Tax Policy Scorecard—a relative comparison of European countries’ tax systems.
55 min readThe Trump administration appears to be moving in a “reciprocal” policy direction despite the significant negative economic consequences for American consumers of across-the-board tariffs on goods coming into the US. However, the EU’s VAT system should not be used as a justification for retaliatory tariffs.
6 min readAs the third-largest economy in the world, with an influential voice within EU policymaking, and the United States among its most important trading partners, Germany’s next government will play a particularly important role in deciding the direction of European tax, trade, and transatlantic policy.
6 min readAs the geopolitical scene continues to change, policymakers in Europe should focus on lowering effective marginal tax rates to drive much-needed investment and long-term economic growth.
6 min readFocusing on competitiveness, neutrality, and efficient policies to raise revenue would go a long way in increasing economic growth and stabilizing public finances over the long term.
7 min readPillar Two risks creating a more complex and unfair international tax system. It is inadvertently fostering new, opaque, and complex forms of competition, and policymakers should consider alternative approaches to creating a fairer international tax environment.
4 min readAs Hungary takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the aftermath of the European elections, the relationship between tax policy and Europe’s competitiveness will be closely linked.
6 min readAdopting tax policy based on sound principles like neutrality rather than political expediency is essential for the European Union’s fiscal future.
5 min readOn Europe Day, our experts explore how the decisions made in the upcoming elections will shape the trajectory of the continent for years to come.
4 min readAs the world of tax policy becomes more interconnected, the Tax Foundation is stepping up, recognizing the pressing need for informed and principled tax policy education in an ever-evolving landscape.
In such a determinant semester for Europe, principled tax policy can be an important tool for a more competitive European Union.
5 min readIn the end, the best way for the EU to support Ukraine’s post-war recovery is to guarantee its tax sovereignty, not just its territorial sovereignty.
5 min readWhat historical lessons of wartime finance can Ukrainian and EU policymakers learn to put Ukraine’s economy on a path to success during, and especially after, the war?
5 min readA harmonized EU tax base is a project in the making. Policymakers have a chance to put the Union on a path for increased investment and economic growth by focusing on the details of capital cost recovery.
3 min readThe variety of approaches to taxation among European countries creates a need to evaluate these systems relative to each other. For that purpose, we have developed the European Tax Policy Scorecard—a relative comparison of European countries’ tax systems.
52 min read