by Dan Mitchell | May 31, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Financial Privacy, Tax Competition, Taxation
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) arguably is the worst feature of the internal revenue code. It’s an odious example of fiscal imperialism that is based on a very bad policy agenda. But there is something even worse, a Multilateral Convention on Mutual...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 21, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation, VAT
The value-added tax is a very dangerous levy for the simple reason that giving a big new source of revenue to Washington almost certainly would result in a larger burden of government spending. That’s certainly what happened in Europe, and there’s even more reason to...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 13, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
I recently wrote a primer on the issue of tax evasion, which is illegal. I made the elementary point that low tax rates and a simple tax code are the best (and only good) way of promoting high levels of tax compliance. Now let’s shift to the related topic of tax...
by Brian Garst | Apr 13, 2016 | Blogs, Financial Privacy, Tax Havens, Taxation
The media has breathlessly reported on the massive data breach of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. Much of that coverage has involved the politicians and other figures whose activities revealed corruption, ethical lapses, or dishonesty and wrongdoing. That...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 10, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Tax Competition, Taxation
I’m hoping the “Panama Papers” issue will quickly fade from the news (as happened after a similar data theft from BVI in 2013) for the simple reason that even left-leaning reporters will get bored when they discover it is mostly a story about internationally active...
