As governors and state legislators across the country search for ways to address the budgetary imbalances that many of their states face following the Great Recession, reductions in individual income tax credits and deductions are being considered. Unfortunately, the casualties of that process...

In previous articles, I examined two typical features of state and local retail sales taxes that prevent them from functioning as comprehensive taxes on consumption: the taxation of business purchases and the exemption of consumer services. In this article, I examine another feature, the...

Recent studies assert that corporations receive a government subsidy by being allowed ordinary business expense deductions for payments of performance-based executive compensation. There is no subsidy, however, because the compensation payments do not receive any preferential tax treatment. The...

Contrary to some commentators' perceptions, the economic case for corporate tax rate reduction does not involve the hope that corporations will “use” their tax savings to make additional investments, pay higher wages, or hire additional employees. Profit-maximizing corporations look at the...