By reducing the tax code’s current barriers to investment and saving and simplifying its complex rules, lawmakers would greatly enhance the ability of Americans to pursue new ideas, create more opportunities, and build financial security for themselves and their families.
40 min read
Since 2018, 30 states and the District and Columbia have legalized and imposed taxes on sports betting. States that have yet to legalize, but which may do so, should pay attention to the impact of tax design in states that already have legal and taxed sports betting—specifically tax base design.
8 min read
A recent JAMA Internal Medicine study on the impact of the Massachusetts flavored tobacco ban indicates that it has been a success. Unfortunately, it left out a very important piece of information: cross-border trade.
4 min read
More than 300 billion cigarettes are sold each year in Indonesia—making it the world’s second-largest cigarette market to China. As such, it is important how Indonesia taxes tobacco products.
4 min read
Maine’s proposal to increase tobacco and vapor taxes has at least four major issues: flawed revenue allocation, risk of increased smuggling, regressivity, and violation of the harm reduction principle.
4 min read
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.
7 min read
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.
3 min read
A proposal to introduce a wholesale tax on vapor products in Alaska could make switching from combustible tobacco products very expensive for smokers.
4 min read
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.
8 min read
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.
6 min read
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.
7 min read
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.
3 min read
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.
5 min read
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.
7 min read
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).
4 min read
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.
8 min read
Through 10 ballot measures across four states—Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington—voters will decide significant questions of state tax policy.
7 min read