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Panama Papers, Tax Planning, and Political Corruption
I wrote a couple of days ago about the “Panama Papers” issue and touched on the key issues. I explained that this non-scandal scandal is simply another chapter in the never-ending war by high-tax...
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A False Tax Trilemma
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...
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For Keeping Money out of the Hands of Politicians, Three Cheers for David...
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...
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Debunking VAT Myths
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...
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Hypocrisy Update: Leftists Want the Peasants (but not Themselves) to Endure...
I wrote last month about Secretary of State John Kerry being a giant hypocrite because he’s been a critic of so-called tax havens, yet he and his family benefits immensely from investments in various...
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Rand Paul’s Heroic and Vital Fight against Global Scheme to Destroy Financial...
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...
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European Commission Launches Shakedown of Apple, Asserts Low Taxes Are “State...
Working the world of public policy, I’m used to surreal moments. Such as the assertion that there are trillions of dollars of spending cuts in plans that actually increase spending. How do you have a...
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The European Commission’s Attack on Apple and Ireland Is Really an Attack on...
I’ve previously written about the bizarre attack that the European Commission has launched against Ireland’s tax policy. The bureaucrats in Brussels have concocted a strange theory that Ireland’s...
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Trump, Tax Reform, and the Media-Generated Faux Controversy over “Net...
Because of his support for big government, I don’t like Donald Trump. Indeed, I have such disdain for him (as well as Hillary Clinton) that I’ve arranged to be out of the country when the election...
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The War Against Cash, India, and a Lesson about Big Government
The War against Cash is a battle that shouldn’t even exist. But politicians don’t like cash because it’s hard to control something that people can freely trade back and forth. So folks on the left are...
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Tax and Development: What the U.N. Gets Wrong and What the U.N. Doesn’t Get...
I’ve been at the United Nations this week for both the 14th Session of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters as well as the Special Meeting of ECOSOC on International...
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Everything You Need to Know about California, in a Single Story
When I write an everything-you-need-to-know column, it’s not because I’m under any illusions that I’ve actually amassed all the information one could need on a topic. Instead, it’s just a meme. I’m...
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What’s the Best Way of Boosting Tax Compliance, Lower Tax Rates or More...
My long-running feud with the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development could be categorized as a fight over tax compliance. The bureaucrats at the OECD say that financial...
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The Adverse Consequences of a 70-Percent Top Tax Rate on Households
She’s not quite as bad as Matt Yglesias, who wants a top tax rate of 90 percent (a rate that Crazy Bernie also likes), but Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is not bashful about wanting to use the...
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The Rich Pay More with Lower Tax Rates
Mark Perry of the American Enterprise Institute is most famous for his Venn diagrams that expose hypocrisy and inconsistency. Taxation and incentives The War on Drugs Minimum wage Food and Drug...
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The Case for Tax Competition
Why do I relentlessly defend tax competition and tax havens? Sadly, it’s not because I have money to protect. Instead, I’m motivated by a desire to protect the world from “goldfish government.” Simply...
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The Destructive Impact of Wealth Taxation
When I wrote about the wealth tax early this year, I made three simple points. A war on wealth is a war on capital (increased double taxation is needed since rich people have a lot of saving and...
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The Continuing Tax Migration to Florida
Like most libertarians, I’m a bit quirky. Most people, if they watch The Great Escape or Rambo II, cheer when American POWs achieve freedom. I’m happy as well, but I also can’t stop myself from...
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Adverse Consequences of California’s Class-Warfare Tax Policy
California is suffering a slow but steady decline. Bad economic policy has made the Golden State less attractive for entrepreneurs, investors, and business owners. Punitive tax laws deserve much of the...
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Taxes Will Be a Royal Pain for Meghan and Harry
I’m part of the small minority that thinks the big news from the United Kingdom is that “Brexit” will finally happen, thanks to Boris Johnson’s landslide victory last month. Most everyone else seems...
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European Tax Greed and American Tech Companies
There are many boring topics in tax policy, such as the debate between expensing and depreciation for business investment. International tax rules also put most people to sleep, but they’re nonetheless...
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Kudos to Trump and Biden for Aggressive Tax Avoidance
Washington is a cesspool of waste, fraud, and abuse. All taxpayers, to avoid having their income squandered in D.C., should go above and beyond the call of duty to minimize the amount they send to the...
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Milton Friedman on Taxation
Yesterday’s column featured some of Milton Friedman’s wisdom from 50 years ago on how a high level of societal capital (work ethic, spirit of self-reliance, etc) is needed if we want to limit...
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The $1 Trillion “Tax Gap” Is a Self-Serving and Shoddy Make-Believe Number...
Whenever I’m asked about the “tax gap,” I point to the academic evidence, from multiple sources, and explain that lower tax rates and tax reform are the best way to get higher levels of tax compliance....
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The “Pandora Papers”
Remember the supposedly breathtaking revelations from the “Panama Papers” back in 2016? We were told those stolen documents were an indictment against so-called tax havens, but the real lesson was that...
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Are High Taxes “Patriotic” and Low Taxes “Rotten”?
Remember back when Joe Biden said paying more tax is patriotic? He was being a hypocrite, of course, since he aggressively sought to lower his own tax burden. But he was also behaving exactly as...
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The War against Cash, Part V
My friends sometimes tell me that libertarians are too extreme because we tend to make “slippery slope” arguments against government expansions. I respond by pointing out that many slopes are very...
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Latin America and Fiscal Suicide
The economic policy lessons from Latin America are very clear. There’s one unambiguous success story (at least until the past couple of years), one semi-decent success story, and then a bunch of utter...
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Great Moments in Tax Avoidance
Since governments have a terrible tendency to waste money, I’m a big fan of tax avoidance. For instance, even though I don’t like itemized deductions for things like charitable contributions and home...
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Another Reason to Defend Trump’s Tax Reform
Guided by the principles of good tax policy, I have mostly focused on two important provisions when writing about Trump’s 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA). Reducing the federal corporate tax rate from...
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