While there are legitimate reasons for increasing and levying excise taxes, legislatures should proceed with caution in the aftermath of the pandemic. Importantly, revenue from increased excise taxes should generally be allocated to spending related to the negative externalities as that revenue is too volatile and unreliable to rely on for long-term budget priorities.
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The House Republican Study Committee released a proposal, “Reclaiming the American Dream,” which includes 118 policy recommendations to address education, labor, and welfare policy with the aim of expanding opportunity, liberty, and free enterprise for all Americans.
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Joe Biden recently released a piece reviewing his tax proposals, contrasting them with President Donald Trump’s tax ideas. A major theme within this piece can be summarized in the title: “A Tale of Two Tax Policies: Trump Rewards Wealth, Biden Rewards Work.”
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State tax revenue collections were down 5.5 percent in FY 2020, driven by a dismal final quarter (April through June) as states began to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. While these early losses are certainly not desirable, they are manageable and far better than many feared.
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A recent OECD report reveals a tendency towards higher property taxes, often in the form of base broadening, tax rate increases, or both.
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Even during a crisis when budgets are squeezed, policymakers should put their efforts into serious reforms of existing income and consumption taxes rather than leaving good tax policy behind for an excise state of mind.
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Just as COVID-19 is putting pressure on other sources of revenue, the loss of VAT revenues resulting from the crisis will force governments to evaluate their VAT systems.
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Under an individual AMT, many taxpayers are required to calculate their income tax liability under two different systems and pay the higher amount.
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As the NYSE prepares to conduct a test of their server capacity elsewhere, New Jersey lawmakers may be forced to rethink the viability of their financial transaction tax proposal.
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What does the Senate Republican coronavirus package do? Are there better ways of providing short-run relief without making the tax code more complicated?
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