Taxation

What All the Democratic Presidential Candidates Have in Common

by Laurence M. Vance March 6, 2020

And then there were three. The Democratic National Convention will be held July 13-16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A record twenty-nine Democrats formally announced that they were seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Fourteen of them withdrew in 2019. Four of them withdrew in 2020 before the Iowa Democratic caucuses on February 3 (Cory Booker, Julian Castro, John Delaney, Marianne Williamson). Three ...

So Much for Living the American Dream

by John W. Whitehead March 3, 2020

“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” ― Frédéric Bastiat, French economist Let’s talk numbers, shall we? The national debt (the amount the federal government has borrowed ...

Are Americans Undertaxed?

by Laurence M. Vance March 1, 2020

According to the Tax Foundation, Tax Freedom Day “is the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year.” Tax Freedom Day “takes all federal, state, and local taxes and divides them by the nation’s income”; that is, “every dollar that is officially part of net national income ...

Americans Certainly Do Need a Payroll Tax Cut

by Laurence M. Vance September 6, 2019

For most employees in the United States there are three different federal taxes taken out of their paychecks by their employers: income tax withholding, Social Security tax, and Medicare tax. Social Security and Medicare taxes are known together as payroll taxes. Unlike the amount withheld for income tax, over which employees have some control, depending on how many allowances ...

The Libertarian Angle: The Income Tax: Root of Evil (video)

by Future of Freedom Foundation April 19, 2019

Taxation is theft, there is no getting around it. But the income tax in particular has had a particularly galling effect on the liberty of all Americans. FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger and Citadel professor Richard M. Ebeling discuss. Go to the podcast.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

by Laurence M. Vance January 1, 2019

We have all seen the signs. They might be referring to a road-widening project, a new city or county park, sidewalks being repaired, new airport terminals being constructed, potholes being filled in, additional trees being planted, or some sort of downtown development. But regardless of the project, the signs are usually the same: Your Tax Dollars at Work. Now, it ...

The Libertarian Angle: Trump’s Tax Bill and American Serfdom (video)

by Future of Freedom Foundation December 5, 2017

FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling discuss recent tax legislation. Go to the podcast.

What Is the Optimal Top Marginal Income Tax Rate?

by Laurence M. Vance November 3, 2017

It’s not just American bureaucracies that are headquartered in Washington, D.C. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), with its staff of approximately 2,700, has been headquartered in Washington, D.C., since its inception in 1945. The IMF “is an organization of 189 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and ...

Feeling Helpless Against the IRS?

by Laurence M. Vance September 1, 2017

Although I enjoy looking at billboards on road trips because it breaks the monotony, I don’t pay too much attention to them when I am driving around town. However, one recently caught my eye because it had to do with something I frequently write about: taxes. The billboard said, “Feeling Helpless Against the IRS?” Since I don’t like handing my ...

The Libertarian Angle: Freedom and the Income Tax

by Future of Freedom Foundation May 3, 2017

FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling discuss the morality of taxation. Go to the podcast.

The Seasonal Republican Welfare Program

by Laurence M. Vance February 23, 2017

The period from about the last week in February to the end of March is like a second Christmas season for some businesses. It is the time when millions of Americans receive their income tax refunds and suddenly have extra hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars to spend. But all tax refunds are not created equal. Many Americans will ...

Abolish the Corporate Income Tax

by Laurence M. Vance September 22, 2016

The European Commission last month ordered Ireland to collect $14.5 billion in unpaid corporate taxes from the U.S. company Apple. Europe’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, who has made tax avoidance a central focus, said that “Apple’s illegal deals with the Irish government allowed the technology giant to pay virtually nothing on its European business in some years.” It ...