Later this week, the European Union is expected to release a new Tobacco Tax Directive, the first update in more than a decade. Early reports indicate that the EU will propose a significant increase to the existing minimum cigarette tax rates levied across the Union and expand the product categories that are taxed, including a block-wide vaping tax.
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History is clear. Lowering budget deficits via spending restraint frees resources for additional private output and jobs. Lowering them by raising taxes on business investment and labor services makes it harder to dis-inflate without a recession.
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Europe is facing difficult times. Governments are balancing the need for more resources with the need to maintain peace and prosperity domestically. To properly strike this balance, EU policymakers must incorporate “Fiscal Fairness” into the debate.
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Two weeks after the 2022 midterm elections, it’s becoming clearer where tax policy may be headed for the rest of the year and into 2023. In the short term, Congress must deal with tax extenders and expiring business tax provisions that may undermine the economy.
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On Election Day, a narrow majority of Massachusetts voters approved Question 1, also known as the Fair Share Amendment, which will transition the Commonwealth from a flat rate individual income tax to a graduated rate system.
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Remote and flexible work opportunities are here to stay, whether states like it or not. With enhanced opportunities to take their job with them wherever they please, more workers can factor tax burdens into their decision of where to live.
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Policymakers face a difficult balancing act this year in what is likely to be an unusual tax extenders season.
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France’s individual income tax system is the least competitive among OECD countries. France’s top marginal tax rate of 45.9 percent is applied at 14.7 times the average national income. Additionally, a 9.7 surtax is applied to those at the upper end of the income distribution. Capital gains and dividends are both taxed at comparably high top rates of 34 percent.
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As we near this year’s “lame duck” session of Congress, there has been renewed interest in reforming the child tax credit as part of a tax deal. Our new analysis highlights the trade-offs that policymakers will face
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the Inflation Reduction Act gives us a glimpse into a future where the U.S. and EU opt for protectionist tax and trade policies rather than implementing principled tax policies and reducing trade barriers between allies.
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Recreational marijuana taxation is one of the hottest policy issues in the U.S. Currently, 19 states have implemented legislation to legalize and tax recreational marijuana sales.
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The first-in-the-nation digital advertising tax was recently struck down by a Maryland circuit court on three separate grounds. Other states might want to avoid getting themselves into this situation in the first place.
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While supporters of the federal estate tax may be correct that only a fraction of estate tax returns eventually pays the estate tax, IRS data shows that it disproportionately impacts estates tied to successful privately owned businesses. Thus, it acts as a second or third layer of federal tax on these successful businesses over the owners’ lifetime.
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Since 2020, Spain has dropped from 26th to 34th on the International Tax Competitiveness due to multiple tax hikes, new taxes, and weak performances in all five index components.
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A border-adjusted carbon tax that uses some of the revenue for pro-investment tax reform could improve U.S. more competitiveness while also addressing concerns with a carbon tax.
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With increases to the standard deduction, a flat tax could provide a net tax cut to taxpayers of all income levels, providing both short-term and long-term relief to taxpayers across the income spectrum. It would also simplify the tax code in ways that encourage greater investment and economic growth, particularly by ensuring that the marginal rate on small business investment is competitive with peer states.
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While changes to federal cannabis law are slow, changes at the state level are accelerating. Recreational cannabis is on the ballot in five states this November—Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota—giving voters the ability to join 19 states that have already legalized recreational marijuana.
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Colombia should consider shifting its planned tax reforms from harmful corporate and individual taxes to less harmful consumption taxes.
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Every policy has trade-offs, but a well-designed carbon tax has the potential to protect the environment without harming consumers, jobs, or businesses.
While there are many ways to show how much is collected in taxes by state governments, our Index is designed to show how well states structure their tax systems by focusing on the how more than the how much in recognition of the fact that there are better and worse ways to raise revenue.
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