Dead people aren’t allowed to drive. They aren’t allowed to vote. They aren’t allowed to testify in court, acquire weaponry, check out books from the library or acquire a pilot’s license. This makes sense. After all, dead people don’t have a functioning brain. As a result, we wouldn’t want them driving or voting or wandering around the local library. But there is one thing dead people are allowed to do. They’re allowed to dispose of assets, or rather,...
Read More »Tariffs or sales tax and corporate tax reduction?
The announcement, and backtracking, on a 20% tax on Mexican imports caused a lot of confusion yesterday. I assumed like most that this was a proposal for a tariff, which would both ditch NAFTA rules and run afoul of the WTO rules. The wall and the tariff led to a cancellation of the Mexican president's trip, and a souring of the diplomatic relations. But in all fairness, it seems that this had little to do with Mexico.The Republican Tax Plan basically is to eliminate the corporate income...
Read More »The Importance of China’s New VAT
In-depth analysis on Credit Writedowns Pro. You are here: Political Economy » The Importance of China’s New VAT By Marc Chandler Yesterday, China announced one of the most important tax reforms of the past twenty years. It is replacing a business tax on gross revenue for non-manufacturing companies with a VAT. Manufacturing companies have been subject to a VAT approach for a few years. The reform extends it from manufacturing and a few services in a pilot...
Read More »Undocumented Immigrants pay a lot of taxes
I have discussed this before. I explicitly argued that this was one the GOP myths about taxes, and I lumped it together with the notion that poor people don't pay taxes (Myth #3: 50% don't pay taxes, including immigrants). Now a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) seems to confirm this view.The report claims that undocumented immigrants living in the United States collectively pay an estimated $11.6 billion dollars each year in state and local taxes. And if...
Read More »Five Republican Myths About Taxes
The last Republican debate exposed some of the GOP myths about taxes. Okay, so not all were discussed in the debate per se, but a few were, and the others are pretty much part of the implicit assumptions in the Republican mainstream. A short list must include these ideas:Corporate taxes are high in the US Lower taxes boost investment 50% don't pay taxes, including immigrants A flat tax would simplify the tax code Reducing taxes could still finance big government But it is well-known that...
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