President Obama used his State of the Union address Tuesday to outline his idea of fairness. To put it simply, that means redistributing wealth by raising taxes on the most successful Americans. “If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes,” Obama declared. He added: “Now, you can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.” Heritage’s Curtis Dubay …
President Obama and Republicans in Congress continue to wage war over an extension of the payroll tax cut. But missing from the debate is any discussion of comprehensive tax reform that would eliminate payroll taxes altogether. Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes are the second-largest source of federal revenue, surpassed only by personal income taxes. This week’s chart from Heritage’s 2011 Budget Chart Book depicts federal revenue by source. That chart would look quite different if Heritage’s tax-reform plan were enacted into law. That plan, part of the Saving the …
There are many reasons tax reform remains a distant dream. Not “tax reform” disguising a tax hike as the Obama Administration envisions, but tax reform that would make U.S. companies and workers world-class competitors, ferret out tax cheats, and make paying taxes a little less onerous to taxpayers. Perhaps the most frustrating reason real tax reform cannot gain traction was on display in The Washington Post over the weekend. In the Post’s business section there appeared an article on why businesses in America are so enamored of debt. The article …
What would it take to lure basketball star LeBron James away from his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to sign a contract with the Miami Heat? Believe it or not, taxes might have something to do with it, and that’s an important message for all levels of government. In Florida, James’ new place of business, there is no income tax, and the superstar will see a big benefit in his bottom line for playing ball in a Heat jersey. James will make $1.014 million more in Miami than in Cleveland over the …
The Tax Foundation recently released its annual report on the number of tax returns filed that have no tax liability, and the study shows a record number of “nonpayers” in 2008. Taxpayers become “non-payers” when credits and deductions wipe out any income tax they owe. According to the Tax Foundation report, of the more than 142 million returns filed in 2008, almost 52 million have no tax liability. That means more than 36 percent of tax filers paid no income taxes in 2008 – a new record high. This was …
While Frank Sinatra wanted to wake up in a city that doesn’t sleep, today’s New Yorkers are looking to live in states where taxes aren’t so steep. New York, whose state and local taxes are among the highest in the nation, is bleeding residents due in large part to the state’s extraordinarily high tax rate. According to a new study by The Empire Center for New York State Policy: From 2000 to 2008, in both absolute and relative terms, New York experienced the nation’s largest loss of residents to other …
