Category: Taxes

January 13, 2014 Santiago, Chile In the 3rd century AD, Emperor Caracalla famously remarked of Rome’s tax policy: “For as long as we have this,” pointing to his sword, “we shall not run out of money.” (Of course, Rome did run out of money. ) At the time, Roman taxation was so extractive

November 6, 2013 Bangkok, Thailand Last week, the US Treasury Department released a statement amid great fanfare and triumph, that the federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2013 was ‘only’ $680 billion. Yes, the sad state of affairs today is that a deficit of ‘only’ $680 billion is actually considered good news. Now,

October 31, 2013 Sydney, Australia Hot off the presses, the IRS just issued a notice of its annual inflation adjustments for the 2014 tax year. According to the release, the inflation adjustment is 1.6%. So now, for example, couples earning more than $457,600 will fall in the 39.6% marginal tax bracket, as opposed

August 26, 2013 Spoleto, Italy The Villa where I’ve been staying for the last week is one of my favorite spots in the world. When I first found it nearly two years ago, I couldn’t believe it. The home is exquisite– it’s a 14-bedroom chateau situated on 25 acres of wine grapes and

May 17, 2013 Dhaka, Bangladesh Well, you have to admit one thing– the United States Senate certainly has its priorities straight. Early last week they passed S.743, the Marketplace Fairness Act. This bill requires US-based online merchants to charge, collect, report, and pay sales tax to the roughly 9,646 jurisdictions within the Land

May 14, 2013 Manila, Philippines Some days one can’t help but look at the headlines and think of Ayn Rand. With all the destructive measures by desperate governments from Cyprus to Argentina, it seems sometimes like we’re reading from the pages of her seminal work, Atlas Shrugged. But what we’re seeing now seems

Reporting from Santiago, Chile In 1729, that Jonathan Swift (of Gulliver’s Travels fame) penned a famous satirical essay from England entitled “A Modest Proposal.” It’s still famous to this day as mandatory reading in many a high school literature class. As you may recall, Swift addresses the problem of the ultra-depressed Irish economy

Reporting from Santiago, Chile In another brilliant move aimed at destroying the few table scraps of economic freedom which remain in the Land of the Free, a bipartisan group of esteemed lawmakers in the United States Congress has introduced the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013. Remember the golden rule of legislation: the more

Reporting from: Santiago, Chile Tax policy really tells you a lot about a government… what politicians’ values and priorities are. People can SAY anything, but in a way, tax policy is putting their money where their mouths are. For example, politicians like to talk about technology, efficiency and transparency. But just take a