Publications

Advocates for tax reform must confront the current tax subsidy for employer-based health insurance, which distorts the market for private health insurance and penalizes those who do not obtain health insurance through an employer. The current scheme should be changed to a straightforward system of credits to empower individuals to make their own health care choices. This would eliminate the current discrimination and tear down this barrier to fundamental tax reform.

Americans suffer from an assault on their privacy because of the way our tax code taxes income. Fundamental tax reform is the key to redressing this invasion of privacy, but proposed international “information exchange” rules would undermine any potential for tax reform and privacy protection. These new rules should be opposed, and tax reform pursued, to protect the privacy of American taxpayers.

A significant problem of the U.S. tax code is that it discourages saving and investment critical to economic growth. Fundamental tax reform toward greater reliance on consumption taxes would increase national saving, reduce the cost of capital, and lead to higher levels of capital formation and GDP. Such a move would be an important policy lever for achieving stronger economic growth, higher living standards, and greater national security.

One of President Bush’s most controversial campaign proposals was to let workers place a portion of their Social Security payroll tax into a personal account. Can such accounts avoid the risk associated with the stock market? Twenty years ago, three Texas counties opted out of Social Security and they have never lost a dime. These counties provide a real, working model for personal accounts that are as safe as a bank.

One of President Bush’s most controversial campaign proposals was to let workers place a portion of their Social Security payroll tax into a personal account. Can such accounts avoid the risk associated with the stock market? Twenty years ago, three Texas counties opted out of Social Security and they have never lost a dime. These counties provide a real, working model for personal accounts that are as safe as a bank.

The Constitution originally forbade direct, invasive taxes. The Sixteenth Amendment removed this protection and gave birth to the modern income tax, sacrificing our individual liberties, our legal principles and protections to government’s insatiable desire for revenue. A primary criterion for tax reform should be the restoration of the individual liberties intended by the Founders.

The November-December 2001 issue of IPI Insights, our 8-page, full-color policy newsletter. In Adobe Acrobat PDF format only.

A capital gains tax cut would reliably stimulate economic growth. Historically, there is a strong relationship between capital gains tax cuts and overall economic growth. Over the past 30 years, every time the capital gains rates have been cut, capital gains revenues have risen. And now that almost half of all Americans own stock, a capital gains tax cut can no longer be said to benefit only “the rich.”

Which changes in tax policy will have the strongest economic benefit per revenue dollar? Reducing tax rates on capital, such as cutting the capital gains tax rate or shortening depreciation lives, would have the biggest economic payoff. Repealing the alternative minimum tax (AMT) would also be potent, though other proposals such as payroll tax cuts would have much less “bang for the buck.”

Meaningful tax reform requires a better understanding of how taxes interact with the economy. Whether its called an income tax, a payroll tax, a sales tax, a consumption tax, a business tax or a property tax, all taxes are paid out of the income people earn with their labor and capital. The current tax code needlessly hamstrings the economy because marginal tax rates exceed average tax rates. The method of accounting presented here offers a starting point to assess how well proposals for tax reform measure up to the current system and to each other.