Blog Articles
6233 Results
Poland Borrows an Idea from Estonia’s Tax System, but Misses the Point
It’s important for Poland to understand the main lesson of the Estonian approach: taxes should be designed with an overarching approach to maximize neutrality and minimize complexity and distortions. Instead of simply adopting a preference for small businesses, the Polish government should instead overhaul its corporate tax rules and truly adopt the Estonian approach to taxation.
2 min read
Indiana Lawmakers Consider Cigarette Tax Increase
While increasing taxes on cigarettes may limit demand, a 200 percent hike may also result in a number of unintended consequences, such as increased smuggling.
2 min read
How Would the Proposed $160 Billion in State and Local Aid Be Allocated?
A bipartisan coalition of Senators unveiled a $908 billion COVID-19 relief bill on Tuesday, which includes, among other provisions, $160 billion in additional aid to state and local governments. It is worth briefly exploring what this would mean, and the amounts of aid your state might expect.
5 min read
Outlining a Path for Tax Policy Compromises
While a sweeping tax policy bill is unlikely in the near future, lawmakers may be able to come together on a smaller scale. Pairing better cost recovery on a permanent basis with support for vulnerable households as well as additional pandemic-related relief would help promote a more rapid return to growth and help businesses and households weather the ongoing crisis.
4 min read
Potential Regulatory Changes in Tax Policy Under the Biden Administration
President Biden may make greater use of regulatory changes to modify how tax law is interpreted and administered. There are several areas where a Biden Treasury Department, likely led by former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, may focus.
3 min read
Will Mississippi Be the Next State to Phase Out its Income Tax?
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R), in his budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2022, has announced his goal of phasing out the state’s income tax by 2030.
3 min read
New York Lawmaker Looks to Sin Taxes Once More
New York already suffers from significant smuggling of untaxed tobacco products—smuggled cigarettes accounted for 53 percent of cigarettes consumed in the state in 2018—and further increasing tobacco taxes is likely to make matters worse.
3 min read
Reviewing Effective Tax Rates Faced by Corporate Income
Economists have proposed taxing corporate income more uniformly through corporate integration, which can be done in a variety of ways. Biden’s plan goes in the opposite direction by making worse the double taxation of corporate income.
5 min read
No ‘Stealth Tax Hike’ in 2021, but Individual and Business Tax Increases Loom
While there are many tax changes built into the tax code over the coming years for individuals and businesses, the recent claim that lower- and middle-income Americans may see a “stealth tax increase” in 2021 due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is untrue.
3 min read
OECD Report: Tax Revenue in African Countries
Taxes on goods and services were on average the greatest source of tax revenue for African countries, at over 50 percent of total tax revenues. VAT contributed on average 30 percent, making it the most important tax on goods and services.
6 min read
Biden Could Provide Business and Household Relief by Eliminating Trump Tariffs
Biden has not specified how he would approach the Trump tariffs, though his advisers have said he will at least review them.
5 min read
Increasing the Tax Burden on Capital Investment and Automation Hurts Workers
There has been an ongoing debate about how automation and the use of robots in the workplace has impacted workers’ wages and employment. Recently, MIT and Boston University economists examined whether tax policy favors certain forms of automation that puts workers at a competitive disadvantage.
7 min read
No, We Don’t Need a Federal Work-From-Home Tax
A recent Deutsche Bank analysis proposes a federal work-from-home tax (“privilege tax”), which is designed to strip away the financial benefit of remote work.
5 min read
New Jersey May Be the First State Without an Excise Tax Levy on Recreational Marijuana
New Jersey’s tax design adds another element to the ongoing experiment with legal recreational marijuana in the states.
3 min read
Prospects for Federal Tax Policy After the 2020 Election
President Biden and Congress should concentrate on areas of common ground, finding incremental places to improve the tax code. A bipartisan bill recently introduced to help retirement savings is a good model for what incremental reform may look like.
4 min read
Election Analysis: California and Colorado Voters Resist Temptation to Shift More of Property Tax Burden to Businesses
In Tuesday’s election, voters in two states—California and Colorado—were tasked with deciding whether to amend their states’ constitution to change how the property tax burden is distributed. In many ways, the ballot measures were mirror images of each other, but the outcomes were similar.
3 min read
Election Analysis: Why Voters Split the Difference on Income Tax Measures
Illinois voters rejected a high graduated rate income tax (“Fair Tax”) while Arizonans embraced a large income tax rate increase for high earners, among the many attention-grabbing results from Tuesday’s elections.
7 min read