People pay every single penny of tax that politicians impose on corporations. The investors that own companies obviously pay (more than one time!) when governments tax profits. The workers employed by companies obviously pay, both directly and indirectly, because of…
Daily Analysis
Embarrassment Alert: America’s Tax System Ranks Below Italy, Greece, and Mexico
I’ve complained over and over again that America’s tax code is a nightmare that undermines competitiveness and retards growth. Our aggregate fiscal burden may not be as high as it is for many of our foreign competitors, but high tax rates and poor design mean the…
What’s the Best Tax Haven for American Citizens?
Since I spend considerable time defending tax competition, fiscal sovereignty, and financial privacy, people sometimes think I can give competent advice on how best to protect one’s income from the IRS. Hardly. Like most people in Washington, I’m all theory and no…
Laughing about Corporate Inversions
There’s lot of criticism of the IRS and the tax code on the Internet. Indeed, I like to think I contribute my fair share. But I’m surprised at (what I consider to be be) the limited amount of humor on those topics. As I look through my archives, I can find only a few…
Inversion Controversy Is about Whether Company Profits Should Flow to Shareholders or Government
Since I’ve been in Washington for nearly three decades, I’m used to foolish demagoguery. But the left’s reaction to corporate inversions takes political rhetoric to a new level of dishonesty. Every study that looks at business taxation reaches the same conclusion,…
Obama, Corporate Inversions, and Grotesque Hypocrisy
Last month, I put together a list of six jaw-dropping examples of left-wing hypocrisy, one of which featured Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. He made the list for having the chutzpah to criticize corporate inversions on the basis of supposed economic patriotism, even…
Do You Want the Global Destruction of Financial Privacy to Enable Higher Tax Rates and Bigger Government?
It’s a bad idea when governments demand information on your bank accounts and investments so they can impose economically destructive double taxation. It’s a worse idea when they also demand the right to tax economic activity in other jurisdictions (otherwise known as…
Policy Makers Should Make the Tax System Better rather than Banning Corporate Inversions
One of the worst things about working in Washington is that it’s so easy to get frustrated about the fact-free nature of political debates. For instance, there’s now a big controversy about companies “re-domiciling” or “inverting” from the United States to lower-tax…
Is FATCA the Worst Part of the Internal Revenue Code?
The worst part of the tax code is something most Americans have likely never heard of.
Obama-Style Taxation Is Causing an Economic Train Wreck in Europe
I wrote the other day that Americans, regardless of all the bad policy we get from Washington, should be thankful we’re not stuck in a hellhole like Venezuela. But we also should be happy we’re not Europeans. This is a point I’ve made before, usually accompanied by…