The IMF has published a paper on the Laffer curve that concludes:
The paper shows how tax rate cuts can increase revenues by improving tax compliance. The intuition is that tax evasion has externalities: tax evaders protect each other, because they tie down limited enforcement capacity. Thus, relatively small tax rate cuts, which decrease incentives to […]
I was quite pleased to find one of my old articles on flat tax reappear on the web of late. It originally appeared on Society Guardian and never made it onto the Guardian web site. But it was very well read in some very useful places, so I thought it worth giving it a new […]
Financial Week has a headline that says:
A tax reform plan not only accountants would love
It refers to a proposal by the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (the US equivalent of Chartered Accountants) for what they call a simple exact transparent tax (SET).
Now let’s be blunt, the SET is a flat tax. As […]
The Sofia Echo reports that:
Salaries of nearly 1.2 million people would decrease after the introduction of flat rate tax in Bulgaria, according to the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria.
Labour and Social Policy Minister Emilia Maslarova agreed that there was a real possibility for employees in some industries, such as textile, agriculture and food […]
I was at the ICAEW’s Philip Hardman lecture last night. I admit, it’s a bash usually worth attending and this year was no exception.
The lecture was Mike Truman, editor of Taxation magazine and at least once or twice commentator on this blog or issues it raises.
Mike’s theme was simple. It was “can a fair tax […]
As if in reply to my Guardian article “Havens and have-nots” Kenneth Rogoff, formerly chief economist at the IMF has an article on the Guardian blog called To have and to have not.
I’ve always been aware that justice is difficult to define, and equity likewise but I have to say that Rogoff and I are […]
There are those who would like to suggest that Iceland is the next economic miracle state. Its flat taxes, high income, large overseas investment portfolio; all are hailed as signs of its success.
So take a sober moment and reflect on the fact that yesterday, according to the FT:
Iceland’s central bank raised interest rates by 45 […]
I’m on record as saying I think the cut in Capital Gains Tax to 18% is a straightforward disaster. But at least I have done so for reason of principle. I was amused to read the follwoing in The Telegraph this morning:
Furious insurers are demanding urgent talks with the Government after it emerged that they […]
Earlier this year, the U.S. Republican Candidate John McCain repeated a curious myth, often repeated in U.S. political debate, saying:
Tax cuts, starting with Kennedy, as we all know, increase revenues.
As the New York Times op-ed contributor Jonathan Chait remarked, it was the political equivalent of Galileo conceding that the Sun does indeed revolve around the […]
The Sofia Echo (one of my regular reads these days) reported yesterday that:
Mart Laar, former prime minister of Estonia, said the flat tax model was used by countries wanting to achieve speedy economic development, but the model was not without consequences and special requirements.
Speaking on October 3 at a conference in Sofia entitled Second Decade […]
