From the category archives:

fix the tax code friday

Fix the Tax Code Friday: Value Added Tax (VAT)

15 October 2010

Yesterday, the National Retail Federation made news for its economic analysis of a Value Added Tax (VAT). The study considered the addition of a VAT to the existing tax structure, something that just won’t happen. But assuming that the existing tax structure was somehow tweaked, there is likely some limited support for a VAT (click [...]

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Fix the Tax Code Friday: Tax Cut-a-palooza

1 October 2010

This week, Congress has been sparring over the best way to fix the economy. It looks like, one way or the other, we’re going to have some tax cuts. The specifics have yet to be worked out. Many are pushing for individual tax rate cuts while others believe that cutting corporate tax rates (something Speaker [...]

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Fix the Tax Code Friday: Making Work Pay Credit

24 September 2010

Although the Bush tax cuts are making the most news these days (a logical focus considering the size and scope of the cuts), Congress is considering a number of other tax-related proposals. Among the concerns is what to do about the Making Work Pay Credit. The credit was only made law for two years (2009 [...]

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Fix the Tax Code Friday: Filing Status

13 August 2010

Today’s Fix the Tax Code Friday question is inspired by a comment on yesterday’s post from TexasEd: What if there was no such thing as filing status? No single, no married filing separate, no married filing jointly, no head of household, no qualifying widow with dependent child. Just one taxpayer per return. What do you [...]

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Fix the Tax Code Friday: Norwegian-Style Transparency

23 July 2010

In this era of offshore accounts and banking secrecy, you can’t turn sideways without hearing someone call for more transparency. I get it – I believe that transparency is generally a good thing, especially in government. But how much is too much? The Norwegians have made news for their “skatteliste,” or “tax list” which includes [...]

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Fix the Tax Code Friday: Federal Estate Tax

16 July 2010

This week, the death of George Steinbrenner rekindled discussions about the federal estate tax. As you may be aware, there is no federal estate tax for 2010. However, assuming that Congress doesn’t take action, next year the federal estate tax returns with a personal exemption of $1 million and a flat rate of 55%. Under [...]

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Fix the Tax Code Friday: Federal Tax Amnesty

30 April 2010

It’s the return of Fix the Tax Code Friday! For those of you who are new (or have forgotten), Fix the Tax Code Friday is your opportunity to sound off on hot topics related to tax. This week, there has been a lot of discussion about amnesty programs in various states. Pennsylvania just kicked off [...]

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Fix the Tax Code Friday: Registration of Tax Preparers

15 January 2010

For the 2011 tax season, the IRS has announced that it will require commercial tax return preparers to register with the agency and pass a competency exam. Commercial tax preparers will also be subject to continuing education requirements and ethics rules. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman enthusiastically supports the idea, calling it “a game-changing event for [...]

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Fix the Tax Code Friday: VAT

19 December 2009

It’s Fix the Tax Code Friday! This week, I wrote a piece for WalletPop about the possibility of a VAT being imposed in the US. The idea is that the VAT would be similar to those in Europe and Asia and would be imposed at each stage of a transaction in an effort to mitigate [...]

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Fix the Tax Code Friday: Pay Per Mile Tax

20 November 2009

It’s Fix the Tax Code Friday! This week, there has been a lot of discussion across the internet about “going Dutch” a la the pay-per-kilometer system recently passed in Amsterdam. So today’s Fix the Tax Code Friday question is: Should the US consider a pay-per-mile tax system to pay for roads and other infrastructures? If [...]

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