flat tax

A new look at how current law and proposed reforms tax entrepreneurs

Tax policy debates often focus on entrepreneurs, those risk-takers who build businesses from scratch. In an effort to better understand how innovators who create new...

January 5, 2017Howard Gleckman

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Ted Cruz’s Business Flat Tax is a VAT

At last night’s GOP debate, Senator Marco Rubio accused Ted Cruz of sneaking a value-added tax (VAT) into his tax reform plan. RUBIO: Here is the one thing I'm not going to do. I'm not going to have something that Ted described in his tax plan. It's called the value-added tax. And it's a tax you

January 14, 2016Leonard E. Burman

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

The Case of the Unreturned Call for Tax Code Simplicity

So far, at least 22 people are running for president. Only three have released detailed tax plans, but nearly all call for more simplicity—perhaps so much that we could file our returns on a postcard. In 2012, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson called for simplicity, too: “A simpler, more

September 2, 2015Renu Zaretsky

: TaxVox

When does “repeal” mean “reform?”

Another presidential candidate floats a flat tax, but would it sink under its own weight? This time it’s GOP contender Rand Paul. He’d replace the tax code with 14.5 percent in federal tax on all personal income, including wages, investment income, and rents. He’d repeal the Social Security and

June 19, 2015Renu Zaretsky

: TaxVox

It depends on what your definition of “pledge” is…

WWND: Louisiana lawmakers ask Grover Norquist to weigh in on Governor Bobby Jindal’s tax plan. Eleven members of the state’s House sent a letter to the head of Americans for Tax Reform. They call the SAVE tax credit —Jindal’s proposed tax credit for a non-existent student fee—a precedent that would

June 9, 2015Renu Zaretsky

: TaxVox

Still On a Road to Nowhere

A short road too often traveled. Federal highway funding is due to expire in about two weeks, and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says a temporary extension—the 33rd in six years—would “prolong a dangerous status quo of funding infrastructure at a level that has left our transportation system

May 13, 2015Renu Zaretsky

: TaxVox

On Some States of Business Taxation and a US Carbon Tax Swap

In Nevada, the GOP governor ’ s $1 billion business tax hike wins support. The state senate passed Governor Brian Sandoval’s plan to shift the state’s flat $200 business license fee to a version of a gross receipts tax. According to the measure, which would raise nearly $1 billion over 2 years, the

April 23, 2015Renu Zaretsky

: Daily Deduction

On Flat Taxes, Tax Relief, and Evidence

Flat tax chatter: Just small talk or a deeper conversation? The Hill examines GOP presidential hopefuls Rand Paul and Ted Cruz and their ideas for an across-the-board tax rate. A flat tax will disproportionately benefit higher earners, and even some in the GOP say that makes it a non-starter. But

April 21, 2015Renu Zaretsky

: TaxVox

Bipartisan or Partisan: Tax Efforts Abound

There’s a bipartisan House effort to double the federal gas tax. It would raise the 18.4 cents-per-gallon tax to about 30 cents, would be inflation adjusted, and would rise again in three years if Congress does not find another way to pay for federal transportation projects. The bill’s sponsors—

April 17, 2015Renu Zaretsky

: TaxVox

Death and Taxes: Certainty and Conflict

The House plans a vote to repeal the estate tax today. Repealing the levy would cut taxes by $270 billion over 10 years for 0.2 percent of the nation’s richest estates. The White House and Democrats are vehemently opposed . The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that 5,400 estates will face the

April 16, 2015Renu Zaretsky