It seems that there’s nothing but bad news coming from Europe. Whether we’re talking about fake austerity in the United Kingdom, confiscatory tax schemes in France, or bailouts in Greece, the continent seems to be a case study of failed statism. But that’s not completely accurate. Every so often I highlight good news, such as […]

In light of today’s Treasury Department hearing on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), the Center for Freedom and Prosperity (CF&P) is again taking the opportunity to call upon Congress to repeal the legislation.

Center for Freedom and Prosperity President Andrew Quinlan sent a letter to Democrat and Republican members of the Surface Transportation Bill Conference Committee highlighting the dangers of allowing Senator Levin’s unrelated anti-tax haven amendment, slipped into the Senate version (S. 1813) by a voice vote, to make it out of conference and into the final bill.

The Levin-Conrad-Whitehouse amendment inserted provisions supposedly to “Stop Tax Haven Abuse,” but which would in reality further undermine global capital flows and the world economy.

I’ve complained many times about the pointless nature of anti-money laundering laws. They impose very high costs and force banks to spy on their customers, but they are utterly ineffective as a weapon against criminal activity. Yet politicians and bureaucrats keep making a bad system worse, and the latest development is a silly scheme to […]

The IRS has announced that they will adopt an unpopular proposed regulation to require reporting of interest paid to nonresident alien depositors. The interest is not taxable under the US tax code, and both lawmakers and experts predict it will result in a loss of foreign investment in the US.

Secretary Geithner offered little more than ‘you can trust us’ to assuage concerns.

Tax competition, as I have explained to the point of being a nuisance, is an important restraint on the greed of the political class. Simply stated, politicians are less like to over-tax and over-spend if they know that geese with the golden eggs can fly across the border. This is mostly an issue in the […]

The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation released today a policy brief highlighting the severe economic damage that would result from adoption of an IRS proposal (REG-146097-09) to require U.S. banks to put foreign law above U.S. law by reporting deposit interest paid to non-resident aliens. Entitled, “Proposed IRS Interest Reporting Regulation Threatens U.S. Economy,” the paper is the second in CF&P’s new Libertas series.

The rule will drive capital investment from the U.S., goes against 90-years of Congressional intent, costs more than it benefits, and threatens the lives and human rights of many investors.