Quantifying the Damage of Biden’s Plan for Higher Taxes on Capital Gains, Part I

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 30, 2021 | Blogs, Capital Gains, Economics, Taxation

Public finance theory teaches us that the capital gains tax should not exist. Such a levy exacerbates the bias against saving and investment, which reduces innovation, hinders economic growth, and lowers worker compensation. All...

A Big (and Deserved?) Tax Increase for Washington, D.C.

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 29, 2021 | Blogs, States, Taxation

I wrote last month about an encouraging wave of tax cuts at the state level. I’m particularly impressed by the tax-cutting plan in Arizona, which cleverly reversed a class-warfare scheme designed to enrich teacher unions. Indeed, I’m a big fan of...

Honest Leftists: “Your Money Is Our Money”

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 25, 2021 | Blogs, Taxation

What motivates the tax-and-spend crowd? Why do they want high tax rates and a big welfare state? The most charitable answer is that they don’t want anyone to suffer from poverty and they mistakenly think big government can solve...

Will High-Value Taxpayers Vote with their Feet Against Biden?

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 18, 2021 | Blogs, Taxation

For most of the world, American citizenship is highly coveted. Indeed, foreigners have even been willing to invest a lot of money to increase the odds of getting to the United States. But changing one’s nationality is a two-way street. Beginning...

Elizabeth Warren’s Demagoguery on “Book Income”

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 17, 2021 | Blogs, Taxation

I’ve written about some boring and arcane tax issues – most of which are only relevant because we don’t have a simple and fair flat tax. Depreciation vs. expensingTerritorial taxation vs. worldwide taxationGILTI rules for multinational...