As noted in this blog back in August, the end of Labour rule in the U.K. will not mean the end of big government in that country.  The new coalition government has already proposed a large tax hike on capital gains: At present investors only pay CGT of 18pc on gains cashed-in of more than £10,100 […]

David Paul Kuhn recently wrote about an interesting new approach to tax collection in the Keystone State: Pennsylvania has a common problem. Hundreds of millions in unpaid taxes. And it needs that revenue. The state took the offensive with a $3 million ad campaign. The television ad begins with a satellite view of earth. A […]

Obama imposed higher tax rates on the so-called rich as part of his government-run healthcare scheme, and he wants to punish success with additional tax rate increases at the end of this year. This excerpt from a New York Post column comments on how many people are getting a free ride from the tax system, […]

 I’ve read several places that Ronald Reagan instinctively understood supply-side economics because Hollywood stars sooner or later learned that making more than a couple of movies per year was pointless when marginal tax rates were 90 percent. The same thing happens in sports. I’ve already posted about soccer stars turning down contracts in places where […]

Being an American citizen is an honor in many ways, but it is a huge millstone around the neck for highly successful investors and entrepreneurs because of an oppressive and complex tax system. This is particularly true for those based in and/or competing in global markets. Indeed, because the tax system (and regulatory system) is […]

Last Thursday, the Senate took a vote on a non-binding “sense of the Senate” resolution concerning a Value Added Tax.  The result was an 85-13 victory for the anti-VAT side.  The roll call can be found here.  The statement of purpose read as follows:  Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Value Added Tax […]

The New York City NBC affiliate reported this week that twenty six professional tax preparers were wanted or arrested on tax fraud charges as the result of a recent crackdown.  Some of the preparers allegedly used the names of dead people to collect fraudulent returns.  Apparently, this scam had been going on since at least […]

I know I promised extra political humor this week, but here’s some extra policy pain. Not only does government-run healthcare mean more spending, more regulation,and more taxes, but it also means more power for the internal revenue service. A new report reveals that the legislation makes the IRS the chief enforcer of the new scheme: […]

An insightful editorial from the Wall Street Journal examines how soak-the-rich taxes in Maryland backfired, leading to less revenue for the government. The politicians would like us to think this is just the effect of the recession, but the article points out that one out of every eight millionaires who filed a tax return in […]

Texas has a small state government and no state income tax. California has a bloated state government and a punitive state income tax. Here’s a simple quiz: Which state is doing better? The answer is obvious, as Michael Barone explains:  Democratic majorities have obediently done the bidding of public employee unions to the point that […]