Wednesday, January 30, 2008

No One Drinks to This Tax

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Philadelphia has a by-the-drink tax on alcoholic beverages served in bars and restaurants. Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, has ...
Monday, January 28, 2008

Improved Rebate Deal Better But Still Falls Short

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Several of the criticisms that I and others levelled against the original tax rebate component of the proposed economic stimulus plan, as no...
Friday, January 25, 2008

Something Better Than a Tax Rebate?

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In a Wednesday editorial, Make the Tax Cuts Work , Len Burman suggests that a good way to stimulate the economy and head off or shorten a r...
Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Who Should Get a Tax Rebate?

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The idea of boosting the economy through a tax rebate has once again surfaced as politicians in Washington seek to find the appropriate band...
Monday, January 21, 2008

Tax Busy-ness in the Pennsylvania Legislature

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During the past week, the Pennsylvania legislature has been very active in the world of taxation. On Thursday, as reported in this Philadelp...
Friday, January 18, 2008

The Return of the Federal Gasoline Tax Increase Proposal

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The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission (NSTPRSC) has recommended an increase in the federal gasoline tax. A...
Wednesday, January 16, 2008

When User Fees Exceed Costs: What to Do?

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Last week, in User Fees and Costs , I explained why I think user fees, such as tolls, should be used for construction, maintenance, and repa...
Monday, January 14, 2008

How Simple and Fair is Fair? Part 2

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A reader sent along a comment and two questions about my How Simple and Fair is Fair? posting on the FairTax, and asked me to explain. I we...
Friday, January 11, 2008

User Fees and Costs

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New Jersey Governor Corzine has unveiled his budget plan, and among his proposals is a recommendation that tolls on New Jersey's toll ro...
Wednesday, January 09, 2008

How Simple and Fair is Fair?

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Advocates of the Fair Tax are treating Mike Huckabee's victory in the Iowa Republican caucus as a triumph for the Fair Tax proposal. Acc...
Monday, January 07, 2008

Tax Cuts = Deaths?

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Almost four years ago, in A Tax Trifecta: Gas, Enforcement, and Special Interests , I commented on a Philadelphia City Council plan to reduc...
Friday, January 04, 2008

When All Else Fails, Throw Tax Money At It

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I wonder how many people are aware that the government, through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is giving aw...
Wednesday, January 02, 2008

New Year's Tax Resolution: Careful with Those Worker Classifications

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Any taxpayer who pays another person to do work should consider very carefully the payee's tax status. Is the person an employee? Or is ...
Monday, December 31, 2007

When is a 15% Tax Rate Not a 15% Tax Rate?

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Last Wednesday, the Tax Court issued its opinion in Weiss v. Comr. , 129 T.C. No. 18 (2007). The case highlights the dangers of using sound ...
Friday, December 28, 2007

Tax Relief = Return to Serfdom?

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The challenges faced by people on fixed incomes when local property taxes increase has been widely reported. For example, I explained one fa...
Wednesday, December 26, 2007

A Tax on Christmas? Really?

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According to this Daily Express political commentary , people in England face a 225 pound "stealth tax bill" for this Christmas. ...
Monday, December 24, 2007

A Holiday "Gift" from the Congress

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Two years ago, in Legislatures Take a Holiday From Taxes , I carped about the unwillingness and inability of legislators to schedule their t...
Friday, December 21, 2007

Taxation of Kidney Swaps: Dispelling the "Ivory Tower" Myth

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Almost two years ago, in The Taxation of Kidney Swaps , I concluded that taxpayers who swapped kidneys for transplantation into their respec...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Raising Revenue Through Tolls Isn't Simple

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As reported in this story , the Federal Highway Administration in effect told Pennsylvania to revise its request for approval of the I-80 to...
Monday, December 17, 2007

Deadlines for Turning In Grades

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The faculty at Wayne State Law School has a very strict grade due-date policy , which came to my attention thanks to Paul Caron's TaxPro...
Friday, December 14, 2007

Lawyers Are Just Like People: Some Good, Some Bad

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People don't like lawyers. So I'm told. People like their own lawyers but not the other person's lawyer. So I've also been t...