Eight states have higher gas taxes as of July 1st, with Wyoming boosting their tax by $0.10. The Government Accountability Office says U.S. Corporations paid a 12.6 percent corporate tax rate in 2010. The number is wrong for multiple reasons, but put simply, it ignores basic math by dividing a numerator (U.S. taxes paid) by an unrelated denominator (worldwide profits earned). The actual effective rate is closer to 26 or 27 percent. Same-sex couples cleared some of the hurdles for the federal estate tax after last week’s Supreme Court ruling, but they still might get hit by the estate taxes on the state level. The European Union may scale down its proposed financial transaction tax (which was previously mention to be on hold). Taxes on the flow of capital is never good, whether scaled down or not. A new study shows that taxes have little effect on greenhouse gas emissions. They also distort market allocation and have been known to end up as hand-outs to politically connected businesses. And despite a windfall in taxes, Illinois budget deficit continues to grow. Maybe revenues aren’t the issue.
