News and Opinion

Economic Effects of Increasing the Tax Rates on Capital Gains and Dividends - Heritage Foundation On December 31, 2010, the low tax rates on capital gains and dividends enacted in 2003 will increase to the higher level that applied prior to that year. Many economists agree that the expiration of these tax cuts will discourage investment and slow economic growth. The United States already has one of the world’s highest capital gains tax rates._{Respond to this posting}  

 High Taxes Drive People and Jobs Out of States - Heartland Institute Just as nations compete economically, so do the individual states within the United States. In fact, states are much more likely to lose jobs and people to other states than to other nations._{Respond to this posting}  

 Study: Top One Percent Pay More Income Tax than Bottom Ninety - The Tax Foundation A new Tax Foundation study of IRS tax returns shows the highest-earning Americans pay an overwhelmingly large share of the nation’s income tax burden._{Respond to this posting}  

The Tax Rate Delima - Richard Rahn in the Washington Times It is politically unacceptable to have an explicitly higher tax rate for middle-income taxpayers than for the truly rich, and economically destructive to have very high rates on the rich. The only way out of the dilemma is to move to a modest flat rate or consumption tax system, with exemptions or rebates for low income people. Wise presidential candidates will propose such policies — demigods will not. _{Respond to this posting}

Time to Cut Corporate Taxes - CATO.org More than two decades ago, the U.S. and the U.K. led the world in a tax-rate-cutting and base-broadening reform effort that brought corporate rates down by more than 20 percentage points in many countries. Yet, since then, the U.S. has not reduced its federal rate while nearly all industrial countries, except for Japan, have made or proposed sharp cuts in their rates. _{Respond to this posting}

Lower Taxes to Keep Ohio Competitive - An NCP Issues Forum Viewpoint Short of doing away with Ohio’s income tax altogether, lowering Ohio’s maximum tax rate would be one of the most effective reforms state lawmakers could implement to make the state more competitive with our neighbors and with states that don’t have an income tax._{Respond to this posting}

The Democratic War Against Prosperity Marches On  - Larry Kudlow - Townhall Democrats in Congress and on the presidential trail are intensifying their high-tax war against prosperity and the so-called rich. Their latest salvo includes more tax penalties on successful investors and entrepreneurs, such as a proposed 4.3 percent surtax on high-income earners and a tax assault on the private-equity buyout industry. _{Respond to this posting}

Record Tax Cut Will Save Utah Taxpayers 0 Million - Budget and Tax News Utah lawmakers have cut personal income taxes more than 0 million, including a drop in the top tax rate from 6.98 to 5 percent, the centerpiece of nearly 0 million in tax cuts to take effect in fiscal year 2009. Despite the tax rate cuts, credits, and exemptions, Utah state spending continues to grow at a rapid rate as revenues keep increasing._{Respond to this posting}

Time for Tax Reform - L.A. Times Twenty Years have passed since President Reagan signed the landmark Tax Reform Act of 1986, a bipartisan effort to simplify the egregiously complex federal tax code. Since then, Washington has taken about 15,000 steps backward — enacting an average of 750 new or modified exemptions, deductions and other wrinkles to tax law every year._{Respond to this posting}

Ohio's March to the Top of the Nation in State and Local Tax Burden - A Buckeye Institute Release Tax Foundation report placing Ohio third in the nation for state and local tax burden confirms what every Ohioan not employed by government or by a spending interest lobby already knows:  Once a low-tax, high-growth state, Ohio is a now a very high tax state from which jobs, growth and prosperity are exiting at an alarming rate._{Respond to this posting}

We work until July 12 to pay for Government - Budget and Tax News The typical American this year worked until July 12 to earn enough gross income to pay his or her share of spending and regulatory burdens imposed by federal, state, and local governments1._{Respond to this posting}

Research 

 The Coming Tax Tsunami - National Center for Policy Analysis Workers planning to retire in the next 25 years will have fewer opportunities to save and will face a higher tax burden to boot. What can be done to avert this impending disaster? The aim should be to maximize the opportunities for baby boomers to earn and save without tax penalties, while restraining spending growth on elderly entitlements._{Respond to this posting}

Which Taxes Weigh Most Heavily on Americans with Different Incomes? - Tax Foundation Income taxes, while important, are just one of many taxes borne by American households each year. Payroll, property, sales, excise, estate and other taxes also add to Americans' tax burdens. And for Americans with low and middle incomes, these non-income taxes commonly make up a bigger slice of their annual tax bill than the federal income taxes they pay to the IRS _{Respond to this posting}

Facts and Figures Handbook:  How Does Your State Compare? - A Tax Foundation Study This pocket-sized booklet compares the 50 states on 40 different measures of taxing and spending, including individual and corporate income tax rates, business tax climates, excise taxes, tax burdens and state spending. _{Respond to this posting}

Repealing the Federal Estate Tax - A Cato Institute Bulletin The estate tax is probably the most inefficient tax in America.  It has a high marginal rate and is very difficult for the government to administer and enforce._{Respond to this posting}

We all pay for the Estate Tax - A NCPA Brief Analysis Estate tax repeal is important to people who do not have large estates.  The estate tax generates little income for the government and negatively affects every American._{Respond to this posting}

Killing the Death Tax - A NCPA Brief Analysis The evidence shows that the estate tax does little to redistribute wealth and may not provide any net government revenues. _{Respond to this posting}