Tag Archives : Tax complexity
Using the Tax Code to Increase Rents and Enrich Landlords
Why is Harris proposing such a destructive policy?
read more...Everything You Need to Know about Deductions, Loopholes, and Special-Interest Tax Provisions
Four guiding principles for the elimination of tax loopholes and the creation of a neutral tax system.
read more...Prosperity Update April 22, 2014
Poor marks for the U.S. tax code, bad anti-“tax haven” legislation in Maine, and tax competition lessons for European nations.
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It’s Wrong for Federal Tax Deductions to Encourage Bad Fiscal Policy by State and Local Governments
I have a handful of simple rules for good tax policy. Keep government small, since it’s impossible to have a reasonable tax system with a bloated welfare state. Keep tax rates low to minimize penalties against income, production, and wealth creation. Since capital formation is critical for long-run growth, don’t double-tax income that is saved […]
read more...New Academic Study Confirms Previous IMF Analysis, Shows that Lower Tax Rates Are the Best Way to Reduce Tax Evasion
Leftists want higher tax rates and they want greater tax compliance. But they have a hard time understanding that those goals are inconsistent. Simply stated, people respond to incentives. When tax rates are punitive, folks earn and report less taxable income, and vice-versa. When tax rates increase, sometimes they engage in tax avoidance, lowering their […]
read more...A Very Depressing Picture of Tax Complexity and Political Corruption
Read it and weep. Or maybe I should say look at it and weep. I suppose this is a good time to recycle my flat tax video. I don’t mention this in the video, but Hong Kong’s flat tax system, which has been around for more than 60 years, requires less than 200 pages. Slovakia’s […]
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America’s Awful Tax System
Happy Tax Day! Or, if you’re like me, happy tax extension filing day. In the past couple of days, I’ve posted about the benefits of a better tax system and the unfairness of the current system. Those were compelling posts, at least I hope. But now let’s tie these themes together. Art Laffer has a […]
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Republicans Are Right to Cut the IRS Budget
One of my many frustrations of working in Washington is dealing with perpetual-motion-machine assertions. The classic example is Keynesian economics, which is based on the notion that you magically create additional economic activity by having the government spend money instead of allowing the private sector to decide how it gets spent (in an especially bizarre […]
read more...The IRS: Incompetence on Steroids
The IRS certainly deserves lots of condemnation for its rogue actions, including a $200 fine for a taxpayer who supposedly underpaid his tax bill by 4 pennies. But the tax-collection agency also should be criticized for blundering incompetence. In the past, I’ve mocked the Internal Revenue Service for sending checks to convicts. Now it’s time […]
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