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The Financial Times recently published commentary by Jacob Weisberg deploring Amazon.com’s use of political and financial muscle to avoid collecting sales taxes on out-of-state purchases. Amazon, he notes, only recently relented because the company sees greater advantage in positioning warehouses closer to customers. Wall Street Journal writer Gordon Crovitz … By Robert Hahn, Peter Passell | Category: Economic Theory, Internet, Internet regulation, Quick Takes, Tax Policy |
 Leave a commentWould a tiny tax on securities turnover corral the frightening volatility of global financial markets and raise a ton of revenue painlessly in the process? Or would it undermine innovation and drive trading to friendlier climes? There will soon be no need to speculate (pun intended). Eleven EU countries are … If you want to start a debate among economists just say “minimum wage.” While some argue raising the wage is economic justice, others worry that it just boosts layoffs. In a new piece posted at Yahoo.com, we argue that the Earned Income Tax Credit may offer a more effective way … Road warriors arise! You have nothing to lose but the tax deductibility of your frequent flier miles. Or something like that … When the airlines started doling out benefits linked to miles flown, in the late 1970s, the Internal Revenue Service took its cue from … Is Amazon a great company, or what? As aficionados of innovation (and, face it, recreational online shopping), it’s been a pleasure to watch the company become a retailing giant. Trouble is, Amazon has been as innovative in its campaign to avoid collecting state sales taxes as … By Robert Hahn, Peter Passell | Tags: Amazon, California, Dick Durbin, sales tax | Category: Tax Policy |
Leave a commentWe join the 99.974 percent of economists in applauding the Senate’s bipartisan vote to repeal the 45-cent-a-gallon tax credit reaped by ethanol refiners and the 54-cent-a-gallon tariff on ethanol imports. That doesn’t mean we’re done with the credit, of course: The refiners, led by ADM, will have a thing … By Robert Hahn, Peter Passell | Tags: ADM, E10, ethanol, ethanol tariff, tax credit | Category: Quick Takes, Tax Subsidies |
Leave a commentAs everybody knows, Pres. Obama unveiled a $350 billion mini-stimulus package last week, one consisting of accelerated investment write-offs, a permanent tax credit for R&D and another round of infrastructure spending. We hope (but doubt) he can convince Congress to go along: With unemployment seemingly stuck above 9 percent, the … By Robert Hahn, Peter Passell | Tags: Medicare, payroll tax, Social Security | Category: Tax Policy |
Leave a commentI’m of two minds about revenue-starved states that are taking on powerful bottled soda interests by proposing hefty taxes on calorically sweetened soft drinks. On the one hand, taxes on external costs may, in principle, increase efficiency rather than decrease it. On the other, while it is plausible that sweetened drinks … By Peter Passell | Tags: cigarette tax, externalities, Justin Fox, soda tax | Category: Quick Takes, Tax Policy |
Leave a commentHoward Gleckman, the editor of TaxVox, reminds us why the Alternative Minimum Tax , the despicable bait-and-switch provision of the federal tax code that steals back most deductions for upper-middle-income taxpayers, is so hard to fix on a permanent basis. Every official body that projects federal … By Robert Hahn, Peter Passell | Tags: alternate minimum tax, Howard Gleckman, tax credit, TaxVox, Urban Institute | Category: Quick Takes, Tax Policy |
One commentMegan McArdle’s analysis of tax burdens in The Atlantic business blog offers a nice dose of common sense, which has largely been missing from the ritual grumbling over Tax Day. She notes that, while the Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes are regressive, the working poor are … By Robert Hahn, Peter Passell | Tags: Alternative Minimum Tax, Earned Income Tax Credit, Megan McArdle, President Reagan, tax reform | Category: Tax Policy |
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Professor Dieter Helm (Oxford) is a very fine fly fisherman, and an even better economist. If you haven’t done so, take a look at his new book “The Carbon Crunch: How We Are Getting Climate Change Wrong — and How to Fix It” for a bit of unconventional wisdom. He argues that politicians and the general public have not shown any real interest in addressing climate change. Helm argues that places like Europe should focus on setting a price for carbon that would cover consumption (and not just production), and that fracking could be a good “bridge” technology for reducing consumption of coal. The book is readable and insightful for those interested in the inside track on climate policy. 
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