Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Where are Workers Pillaged Worst of All?

by Dan Mitchell | Apr 26, 2018 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation

Congratulations to Belgium. According to the new edition of Taxing Wages, average Belgian workers have the dubious honor of surrendering the biggest chunk of their income to government. No wonder part of the country is interested in secession. We can also give...

Will the Supreme Court Grant States Extraterritorial Tax Powers?

by Dan Mitchell | Apr 23, 2018 | Blogs, States, Tax Competition, Taxation

On April 17, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., a case dealing with whether states should have the power to levy taxes on companies in other states. Most observers see this issue as a fight over taxing the Internet, taxing online...

Who Deserves Blame for the Oppressive Tax System, the IRS or Politicians?

by Dan Mitchell | Apr 21, 2018 | Blogs, Taxation

For the past 30 years, I’ve been criticizing both the tax code and the IRS. Which raises an interesting chicken-or-egg question about who should be blamed for our nightmarish tax system. Should we blame IRS bureaucrats, who have a dismal track record of abusing...

A Deceptive and Inaccurate Call for Higher Taxes

by Dan Mitchell | Apr 9, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation

Five former Democratic appointees to the Council of Economic Advisers have a column in today’s Washington Post asserting that we should not blame entitlements for America’s future fiscal problems. The good news is that they at least recognize that there’s a future...

Which State Will Be the First to Suffer Fiscal Collapse?

by Dan Mitchell | Apr 6, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, States, Tax Competition, Taxation

I’m a big fan of federalism because states have the flexibility to choose good policy or bad policy. And that’s good news for me since I get to write about the consequences. One of the main lessons we learn (see here, here, here, here, and here) is that high-earning...