Wall Street Journal, America’s Next Tax Revolt (6/17): A Taxpayer Bill of Rights is a long overdue addition to the architecture of state constitutions. Proposition 13 halted the aggressive encroachment of state government more than 25 years ago, but only temporarily: Even after adjusting for inflation, most state tax collections are two to three times…

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President Bush issued an executive order yesterday extending the deadline for the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform to isse its final report from July 31 to September 30. Advisory Panel Chairman Connie Mack and Vice-Chairman John Breaux issed this statement: The President’s Advisory Panel has done an incredible amount of work in a…

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The nonpartisan FactCheck.org has criticized recent TV and radio ads by two conservative groups as "Estate Tax Malarky": [The ads] greatly overstate the burden that the federal estate tax puts on heirs to a family farm or business. One ad claims the federal estate tax "can bury your family in crippling tax bills," which is…

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David Cay Johnston published an interesting article, Richest Are Leaving Even the Rich Far Behind, in Sunday’s New York Times as part of its special Class Matters section.  Here is the opening: When F. Scott Fitzgerald pronounced that the very rich "are different from you and me," Ernest Hemingway’s famously dismissive response was: "Yes, they…

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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS We respect the diligent, conscientious efforts, to date, rendered to the Senate by Majority Leader Frist and Democratic Leader Ried. This memorandum confirms an understanding among the signatories, based upon mutual trust and confidence, related to pending and future judicial nominations in the 109th Congress. This memorandum is in…

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Interesting article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Millionaires Back Estate-Tax Change; A Fifth Seek Levy’s Repeal; Inherited-Wealth Recipients Favor Progressive Taxation.  Here is the opening: While most millionaires favor changing the estate tax, those with inherited wealth say the rich should bear more of the nation’s tax burden, according to a new survey. More than…

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The President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform yesterday announced that it is inviting interested parties to submit ideas on the various tax reform ideas submitted to the panel by June 10: "At our two-day public meeting last week, 27 witnesses presented ideas and specific proposals for reforming the tax code," stated Senator Connie Mack,…

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A follow-up on last week’s post, Estate Tax Musings:  more bloggers have entered the debate over estate tax repeal: Gary Becker:  I believe taxes on estates should be permanently abolished since they do little to reduce income or wealth inequality, benefit a vast army of lawyers and accountants whose role is to find ways to…

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A video webcast and PowerPoint presentations are available from today’s ninth meeting of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, which focused on the avaluation of tax reform proposals and a discussion of issues associated with “return-free” filing : Statement of Panel Chairman Connie Mack Panel I:  Economic Perspectives on Tax Reform Power Point…

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The President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform holds its ninth meeting today at the Georgetown University Law Center.  Witnesses at today’s meeting will evaluate tax reform proposals and discuss issues associated with “return-free” filing : Panel I:  Economic Perspectives on Tax Reform Martin Feldstein (George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University; President &…

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A video webcast and PowerPoint presentations are available from today’s meeting of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, which focused on business tax reform proposals: Statement of Panel Chairman Connie Mack Perspectives on Business Tax Reform PowerPoint Presentation by R. Glenn Hubbard (Dean, Columbia Business School), Business Taxation and Tax Reform Panel 1:…

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The President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform concludes it eighth public meeting today in Washington, D.C. beginning at 9:30 am EST.  Today’s meeting will focus on business tax reform proposals.  Here is the schedule of witnesses: Opening remarks by Panel Chairman Connie Mack Perspectives on Business Tax Reform Remarks by R. Glenn Hubbard (Dean,…

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A video webcast and PowerPoint presentations are available from today’s meeting of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, which focused on specific tax reform options: Statement of Panel Chairman Connie Mack Panel 1:  Value-Added Tax PowerPoint Presentation of Charles McLure (Hoover Institution, Stanford), The Value-Added Tax PowerPoint Presentation of Michael Graetz (Yale), A…

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Joe Kristan of Roth & Company has an interesting post, based on a post (followed up here) by Zimran Ahmed of Winterspeak, on a recent New York Times article (What Should a Reconfigured Tax System Look Like?) about the forthcoming book Toward Fundamental Tax Reform (edited by Alan J. Auerbach & Kevin A. Hassett).  The…

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The President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform holds its eighth meeting today and tomorrow in Washington, D.C. beginning at 9:30 am EST.  Today’s meeting will focus on specific options for tax reform.  Here is today’s schedule: Opening remarks by Panel Chairman Connie Mack Panel 1:  Value-Added Tax Charles McLure (Hoover Institution, Stanford) Michael Graetz…

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The House’s vote to permanently repeal the estate tax has generated a lot of commentary in the blogosphere: WIlliam Beach (The Heritage Foundation) Vic Fleischer (A Taxing Blog) Joel Friedman (Center on Budget & Policy Priorities) William G. Gale, Leonard E. Burman & Jeff Rohaly (The Tax Policy Center) Gail Heriot (The Right Coast) Joe…

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Bankruptcy guru Elizabeth Warren (Harvard) offers additional thoughts on the role of taxes in bankruptcies: People are right that pinning down a single cause for most bankruptcies is a tricky matter. A debtor in the throes of a financial meltdown may describe his problems very differently from the way an omniscient observer would describe them.…

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Bruce Bartlett (National Center for Policy Analysis) continues his jihad against a retails sales tax here: According to columnist Robert Novak, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay … is adamant about replacing the entire federal tax system — payroll and income taxes — with a 30% national retail sales tax collected by the states … I…

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This map of the most recent census data (for 2003) shows an interesting divide: Blue States are those whose median income for a family of four exceeds the U.S. median of $65,093, while Red States are those whose median income is less than the U.S. median: Note the eerie similarity with the 2004 presidential election…

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Today is the deadline for submitting comments to the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform on how to reform the tax code: "At our six public meetings that were held all over the country, we learned about the complexities of the tax code and its impact on taxpayers," stated Senator Connie Mack, Chairman of…

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Interesting editorial in Friday’s Wall Street Journal, An IRS Cover-Up?: Perhaps you remember Henry Cisneros. He’s the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development who pleaded guilty in 1999 to lying to FBI investigators during his pre-appointment background check about hush payments to a former mistress, on which it also happens he hadn’t paid the…

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A video webcast and PowerPoint presentations are available from yesterday’s meeting of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform at the University of Maryland: This meeting will focus on how state tax systems work, how they interact with the Federal tax system, and lessons about tax reform that can be learned from the experience…

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