Category Archives: tax

5/4/20: Effective Corporate Tax Rates in the U.S.: 1980-2019


Evolution of effective corporate tax rates in the U.S. from 1980 through 2019:

Source: Yardeni Research, with my annotations

Effective tax cuts rates rankings by Presidential Administration:
Bush Jr (largest cuts)
Bush Sr (second largest cuts)
Trump (third largest cuts)
Clinton (fourth largest cuts)
Obama (net change approximately zero)
Reagan (net change positive)

Taxes and tax burdens are complicated, folks...

6/4/19: U.S. Tax Compliance Costs and Lobbying


Not a fan of The Atlantic on a range of topics, especially geo-politics, but a great write up on the relationship between tax accounting industry, lobbying and U.S. tax codes (painfully and daftly complex) here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/american-tax-returns-dont-need-be-painful/586369/. Worth a read:


Of course, the solution is to make tax filing for ordinary income taxes simple, and to make tax codes more streamlined. A flat tax would work. Charged across all income at one rate. Or a flatter tax, with a schedule of just two or three bands, applying, again, across all income.

6/4/19: U.S. Tax Compliance Costs and Lobbying


Not a fan of The Atlantic on a range of topics, especially geo-politics, but a great write up on the relationship between tax accounting industry, lobbying and U.S. tax codes (painfully and daftly complex) here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/american-tax-returns-dont-need-be-painful/586369/. Worth a read:


Of course, the solution is to make tax filing for ordinary income taxes simple, and to make tax codes more streamlined. A flat tax would work. Charged across all income at one rate. Or a flatter tax, with a schedule of just two or three bands, applying, again, across all income.