Entrepreneurship

Siim Kallas Proved the Hard Work of Sound Tax Reform Pays Off

If America’s leaders today want to learn how to build a lasting system on the foundation of simplicity and neutrality, they should follow the Siim Kallas blueprint.

How Tax Cliffs Hold Back Poland’s Individual Business Owners

Poland taxes its individual business owners through alternative regimes and a series of thresholds, several of them sharp notches that imply significant tax costs for businesses crossing them.

Distributed Profits Taxation Would Be a Good Role Model for the EU’s 28th Regime

In a recent speech at the Davos Economic Forum, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced plans to create a single set of rules for corporate law, insolvency, labor law, and taxation, under which companies could seamlessly operate across the European Single Market.

Trump and the Next Congress Should Ensure the Tax Code Continues to Help Small Businesses

“Full expensing” may not sound like the most exciting policy, but it’s the strongest tool in our tax code to help our small businesses.

Analysis of Harris’s Billionaire Minimum Tax on Unrealized Capital Gains

In her campaign for president, VP Kamala Harris has embraced all the tax increases President Biden proposed in the White House FY 2025 budget—including a new idea that would require taxpayers with net wealth above $100 million to pay a minimum tax on their unrealized capital gains from assets such as stocks, bonds, or privately held companies.

Vermont Lawmakers Consider Harmful Taxes on the Wealthy

Vermont lawmakers are considering the adoption of two new taxes on high earners, which proponents have branded “wealth taxes.”

The Wealth Tax Discussion Is Back

Given that wealth taxes collect little revenue and have the potential to disincentivize entrepreneurship and investment, perhaps European countries should repeal them rather than implement one across the continent.

America’s Progressive Tax and Transfer System: Federal, State, and Local Tax and Transfer Distributions

The overall U.S. tax and transfer system is overwhelmingly progressive, and understanding the extent—and source—of that progressivity is essential for lawmakers considering the trade-offs associated with each tax policy decision.

Wealth Tax Proposals Are Back as States Take Aim at Investment

In a coordinated effort, lawmakers in seven states that collectively house about 60 percent of the nation’s wealth—California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Washington—are introducing wealth tax legislation on Thursday.

Pandemic Highlights the Need for Better Tax Policy for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

As Congress works to provide another round of emergency economic relief, it is a good time to step back and consider how tax policy affects entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Taxing Times: One Virginia Brewer's Experience During COVID-19

We sat down with the owners of Black Narrows Brewing Company, a family-owned craft brewery situated in a small island-town on Virginia’s scenic Eastern Shore, to discuss the challenges they face as a small business during COVID-19 and what they would like to see legislators do to reduce short- and long-term barriers for entrepreneurs.

Tax Policy After Coronavirus: Clearing a Path to Economic Recovery

Governments at all levels must work to remove the tax policy barriers that stand in the way of economic recovery and long-term prosperity following the COVID-19 crisis. Our new guide outlines several comprehensive options that policymakers can take at the federal and state levels.

Proponents of Wealth Taxation Must Consider its Impact on Innovation

Instead of raising revenue from a narrow tax base through high tax rates, policymakers should identify options to raise revenue efficiently through broad-based taxes consistent with sound tax policy.

Tax Cliffs in the Proposed PROGRESS Act May Slow Small Business Growth

New Research Shows Small Firms Value Simplicity More Than Tax Relief

New Study Finds that High Tax Rates Lower the Chance of Business Survival

America’s tax code distorts the economic decision-making of firms, such as the favorable treatment of debt financing over equity. This study adds to this argument while providing motivation for policymakers to focus on how reforms to tax policy can increase American entrepreneurship.

Policymakers Should Learn from Tax Complexity in Brazil and the United States

Tax Policy and Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Analysis

A key element of America’s dynamism problem is a drop in entrepreneurship. Removing tax barriers for entrepreneurs would improve America’s dynamism while making America’s tax code more neutral, efficient, and simple for all taxpayers.

A High Tax Rate on Star Inventors Lowers Total Innovation

Findings from a new study suggest that while a policy agenda to revive innovation must include an assortment of changes – including greater access to mentorship – tax policy matters too.

The Real Lesson of 70 Percent Tax Rates on Entrepreneurial Income

The fall and then rise of entrepreneurial income claimed on the wealthy’s 1040 tax returns clearly tracks the seeming decline of inequality from 1950 to 1980, followed by the sudden rise in inequality since 1986. The shifting composition of income claimed by the rich due to changes in tax laws explains this illusion.