Reconciliation. One word that drives D.C. crazy, yet has been the way some of Congress’s most monumental bills have become law. We discuss why this complex budget process is back in the mix as Congress gears up to advance President Biden’s multi-trillion-dollar tax agenda.
A VAT tax reform that eliminates VAT reduced rates would decrease compliance costs and allow for a more rapid economic recovery. Policymakers should focus on simplifying VAT rules and making them more efficient and neutral by broadening their tax bases and eliminating reduced rates and unnecessary tax exemptions.
4 min read
House Democrats’ newly released $3.5 trillion tax legislation includes a tax increase on tobacco, nicotine, and vapor products levied on tobacco manufacturers. But ultimately it would fall heavily on tobacco consumers—many of the group that earns less than $400,000 that President Biden pledged would not see a tax increase.
6 min read
Research shows that a tax on stock buybacks would not be the right policy solution to encourage long-term investment or lift wages.
4 min read
Whether spurred by a belief that government is improperly favoring religious institutions, an antipathy to wealthy celebrity pastors, or a hope that taxing houses of worship could bring down personal tax bills, the taxation of religious bodies is hotly debated online, but barely on the radar of actual elected officials. But is that true? How much, if any, tax revenue is forgone, and what do the policies look like?
7 min read
The Biden administration does have a point about how some components of the infrastructure bill could put downward pressure on inflation in the long term. However, the taxes chosen to pay for those investments would counteract those effects, by reducing investment and productivity growth.
4 min read
Earlier this year, Maryland legislators overrode Governor Larry Hogan’s (R) veto of HB732, approving a digital advertising tax, the first of its kind in the country. But legislators punted several crucial questions to the state comptroller, who last week submitted proposed regulations for the digital advertising tax to the state Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review.
9 min read
Rather than pursuing policies that have demonstrably reduced R&D and innovation elsewhere, and that would disincentivize R&D in the U.S., lawmakers should continue to ensure an ecosystem that encourages risk-taking and R&D.
4 min read
Patent box regimes (also referred to as intellectual property, or IP, regimes) provide lower effective tax rates on income derived from IP. Most commonly, eligible types of IP are patents and software copyrights. Currently, 14 of the 27 EU member states have a patent box regime.
4 min read