Opinion
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What Is the FairTax?
Opinion -The FairTax, pending in Congress as HR 25 and S 1493, is a non-partisan proposal that would abolish all federal income taxes, including payroll, self-employment, alternative minimum, income, capital gains, corporate, and death taxes, replacing them with -
A Timely Reference Book for Tax-Filers
Opinion -The IRS Problem Solver: From Audits to Assessments--How to Solve Your Tax Problems and Keep the IRS Off Your Back Forever Daniel J. Pilla Regan Books, 2003, $15. -
Tax Fairness versus Tax Morality
Opinion -Politicians talk about “tax fairness,” but never about tax morality. That’s because their notion of a fair tax is really an immoral tax, for it is based on theft (some people taking money from other people for themselves). -
Measure H and the War Against Biotech
Opinion -Voters in Mendocino County, about a hundred miles north of the San Francisco Bay, are being asked to turn back the clock with a ban on one of the most useful environmental tools available to farmers: biotechnology. -
Lessons from 30 Years of TEL Experience
Opinion -The first tax and expenditure limitation (TEL) was proposed by California Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1972. In the years since then, numerous states have adopted TELs. -
Cook County Assessor Wants Property Tax Caps
Opinion -In a January 28 article in the Chicago Tribune, Cook County, Illinois Assessor James Houlihan renewed his call for state lawmakers to “impose a 7 percent per year cap on increases in residential property assessments in Cook County. -
IRS Error Rate Still High
Opinion -The January 2004 report of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration [TIGTA] confirms the IRS’s error rate for advice it gives at its hundreds of walk-in Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) remains unacceptably high. -
Corporations Don’t Pay Taxes, People Do
Opinion -When Democrats on the Presidential campaign trail talk taxes, attacks against the Bush administration are de rigeur. The Bush tax cuts, they complain, benefitted big corporations rather than individual taxpayers. -
Farm Group Makes Fairer Taxes a Priority
Opinion -At its national convention in Honolulu, Hawaii on January 14, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) moved to make replacing the federal income and payroll tax systems a priority concern for 2004. -
Schwarzenegger Caves on Spending Limit
Opinion -California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger abandoned a core campaign promise in mid-December when he signed a fiscal-reform package that did not include a constitutional spending limit. -
Wisconsin Needs a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights
Opinion -Although most policy analysts acknowledge weaknesses in Colorado’s tax and expenditure limitation--the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) adopted in 1992--the measure remains the country’s leading model for how to structurally require a state to keep its -
Boston Mayor Advocates Property Tax Shift
Opinion -At a December 30 meeting of a special legislative commission on property taxes, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino advocated a plan for a temporary shift of the local property tax burden, from residential to commercial property tax payers. -
Retailers Cut Prices in Moscow as Sales Tax Ends
Opinion -Russia’s largest retail chains plan to lower prices 5 percent in response to the government’s decision to drop the sales tax in 2004, according to the Moscow Times. -
A Review of Tax Changes Taking Effect this Year
Opinion -Tax law changes that take effect this year will make a difference in your personal finances. Some will happen automatically, and some of these new tax deals require you to take some action now. The tax cut. -
Oakland Mayor Floats Sin Taxes on Junk Food and Drinking
Opinion -Oakland, California Mayor Jerry Brown has recommended the state solve its budget woes by exploiting residents’ bad habits, by taxing behaviors such as drinking and eating junk food. -
Former Senator, Friend of Taxpayer Dies
Opinion -Former U.S. Senator William V. Roth Jr., a fighter for tax cuts and IRS reformer during his five terms in Congress and creator of the popular retirement account that bears his name, died on December 13. He was 82. -
Economist David Ricardo on Taxes
Opinion -David Ricardo, born in 1772, became interested in economics at the age of 27 after a chance reading of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (1776). -
On the Frontier: Colorado’s Taxpayers Bill of Rights
Opinion -Colorado is often cited as the state with the most stringent tax and expenditure limit (TEL) in the country. State elected officials nationwide can learn from how Colorado got its TEL and how it is attempting to cope with recent challenges. -
Taxpayer Advocates Battle Tax Increases
Opinion -In Nevada, Dan Burdish of Nevadans for Tax Restraint and George Harris of Nevadans for Sound Government are leading the fight to repeal part of Democrat Governor Kenny Guinn’s $776 million tax increase package, passed in July 2003. -
Temporary Sales Tax Petition Falters in Missouri
Opinion -According to a recent Associated Press report from Jefferson City, Missouri, “supporters of a tough-times tax proposal have abandoned efforts to get it on the August 2004 ballot, citing a lack of both public support and campaign cash. -
Iraq to Receive Flat Tax in 2004
Opinion -The citizens of Iraq will receive a tax reform gift in 2004, compliments of the U.S. government. “That’s because the Iraqis will enjoy something we don’t--a simple and fair tax system,” said Daniel J. -
Flat Tax Benefits for Iraq
Opinion -The flat tax measure, predicts Daniel J. Mitchell in a November 10 commentary for The Heritage Foundation, will reap the following significant positive results for the Iraqi people: Help restore the Iraqi economy. -
Tax Repeal Referendum Makes Ballot in Oregon
Opinion -Oregon voters have launched an effort to repeal an income tax surcharge passed by the Oregon Legislative Assembly in mid-2003, scheduled to take effect this spring. -
State Budget Problems Lead to Renewed Interest in TELs
Opinion -Thoughtful leaders in many states are fed up with the fiscal roller coaster they have experienced during the past decade and want to smooth out the ride.