Excise Taxes

Tennessee Should Build on Success and Improve Corporate Taxes

While Tennessee now boasts no individual income tax, there is still more work to be done for businesses—Tennessee is in a good position to get the job done.

Proposal to Raise Vapor Taxes in Washington State Gets Base and Rate Wrong

Lawmakers in Washington need not revisit their vapor tax. The current tax is levied at an appropriate level and it has the right tax base.

Poor Tax Design in Alaska Vapor Tax Proposal

A proposal to introduce a wholesale tax on vapor products in Alaska could make switching from combustible tobacco products very expensive for smokers.

A Holiday Tradition: Tax Extenders Slated to Expire at End of 2021

Tax extenders this year can be split into three rough groups: expiring parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), expiring parts of various COVID-19 economic relief packages, and the Island of Misfit Extenders.

Why Washington State Can’t Claim Its Capital Gains Tax Is an Excise Tax

Permanent Build Back Better Act Would Likely Require Large Tax Increases on the Middle Class

Policymakers and taxpayers should understand the scope of tax changes necessary to fully pay for the large-scale social spending programs that would be initiated under the Build Back Better Act.

Cigarette Taxes and Cigarette Smuggling by State, 2019

Aligning Kentucky’s Tax Code for Growth

The Surprising Challenge of Too Much Tax Revenue—and Florida’s No-Gas-Tax Solution

Temporary tax relief measures, like refund checks or gas tax holidays, are not necessarily bad, and can be justified as ways to return excess revenues to taxpayers, but they often miss an opportunity to do better by taxpayers in the long run.

Norway’s New Budget Adds Unnecessary Complexity

Norway’s proposed reductions in income tax have the potential to increase disposable income for workers that can potentially raise consumption and contribute to economic growth. However, the increase of the wealth and indirect taxes is likely to step up the complexity of the tax system and create additional distortions.

How Do Build Back Better Taxes Affect 5G Competition?

One unintended consequence of the tax proposals in the Build Back Better Act is a higher potential burden on wireless spectrum investments, which could slow the build out of 5G technology as the U.S. races to compete with other countries—moving in the opposite direction of countries like China that are actively subsidizing 5G expansion.

Republican Cannabis Bill Would Tax by Category

Rep. Mace (R-SC)’s States Reform Act would deschedule, regulate, and tax cannabis products with a novel federal excise tax design—based on quantities and predefined categories, not dissimilar from how the federal government taxes alcohol and tobacco.

Complexity Harms Tobacco Tax Design in Cigarette-Popular Indonesia

Indonesia, the world’s second-largest cigarette market, has a uniquely complex system when it comes to taxing its tobacco consumption, which is almost exclusively cigarettes (98 percent).

Wrong Tax Base Leads to Multiple Issues for Federal Nicotine Tax Proposal

The nicotine tax proposal in the Build Back Better Act neglects sound excise tax policy design and by doing so risks harming public health. Lawmakers should reconsider this approach to nicotine taxation.

Tracking 2021 Election Results: State Tax Ballot Measures

Through 10 ballot measures across four states—Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington—voters will decide significant questions of state tax policy.

Austria’s Budget Comes with Tax Cuts and Carbon Levies

Austria should not shy from lowering the corporate income tax rate sooner or even implementing a more ambitious tax reform to improve its tax competitiveness and contribute to greater economic growth.

Lawmakers Consider Untested and Complex Policies to Fund Reconciliation Bill

Congress is debating new ways to raise revenue that would make the tax code more complex and more difficult to administer. The new proposals—imposing an alternative minimum tax on corporate book income, applying an excise tax on stock buybacks, and, at one point this week, a tax on unrealized capital gains for billionaires—are unreliable and highly complex ways to raise revenue.

Coloradans to Vote on Structurally Unsound Property and Cannabis Tax Changes

Wireless with Strings Attached

As of 2020, there were 448 million active cell phone and wireless plans in the U.S. than there were Americans. The taxes on those plans brought in approximately $11.3 billion and constituted a record 24.96 percent of the cost of an average cell phone bill. Explore why cellphone taxes are climbing, the places they’re the highest, the consumers they impact the most, and how things can be improved.

Excise Taxes and Fees on Wireless Services Increase Again in 2021

Taxes and fees on the typical American wireless consumer increased again this year, to a record 24.96 percent.