“We cut tax exemptions in 1986, it was the most admired tax reform in U.S. history. Congress and the president worked together then to eliminate scores of loopholes and exemptions and deductions; this made taxes much simpler, and allowed a major cut in tax rates.” TogetherPresidentCuttingTaxesRate Author:T.R. Reid
“President Trump repeatedly says that "America is the highest-taxed country in the world." This is an alternative fact. We pay less in taxes, and our government spends less, as a share of our total wealth, than our counterparts in Western Europe and East Asia. But Trump is right when it comes to corporate tax rates; the U.S. corporate income tax right is among the highest in the world.” WorldCountryPresidentWealthShareTaxesWesternRateIncome Tax Author:T.R. Reid
“The income tax only taxed the Rockefellers, the Morgans and the Vanderbilts. It was aimed at the top 4 percent, and the top rate then in 1913, was 7 percent. Woodrow Wilson had a big ceremony and said, "I'm delighted to be president at the creation of this popular new tax."” PresidentCreationTaxesRateCeremonyIncome Tax Author:T.R. Reid
“It was an easy thing to tax for a young country. And then gradually we moved to property taxes, manufacturing taxes, and the income tax was the answer to a populist demand: Let's go after the rich guys. We got into World War I, and they raised the rates and started taxing the rich. Then we got into World War II, and that's when they taxed everybody, because they just needed more revenue.” WorldWarCountryGuyEasyRichTaxesMovedPropertyRateWar Of The WorldsWorld War IiWorld War IIncome TaxPopulist Author:T.R. Reid
“The higher the rate, the more interest there is in avoiding the tax. Either you move or you shift your profits overseas, as American corporations have proven very good at doing.” MovingInterestTaxesRateVery GoodAvoiding Author:T.R. Reid
“Mortgage is one of the most popular deductions. It costs the Treasury about $103 billion a year. Now that's money we could use to treat wounded veterans or reduce the deficit or fill the border. Instead, we give it a subsidy to homeowners, and it goes mainly to the richest homeowners in America, because only one third of Americans itemize their deductions. It doesn't work. Many countries have gotten rid of the mortgage interest deduction. Almost all of them have higher homeownership rates than we do.” GivingCountryInterestRateVeteranMortgageTreasuryHomeowners Author:T.R. Reid
“If you get rid of all these giveaways and loopholes and deductions and credits, then you can sharply lower the rates.” Rate Author:T.R. Reid
“There's a tradeoff. Yeah, I lose the deduction that I really like, but my tax rate is going to go down, and I don't have to fill out that form anymore. It's much simpler, rates are lower, and that tradeoff has worked in many countries. Many countries have just cleaned house of all those exemptions in order to provide lower rates, and people buy it.” PeopleCountryHouseTaxesRate Author:T.R. Reid
“Starting in the '80s or so, after the United States sharply cut its rates, other countries decided they better do it too, and here's how you do it: you just wipe out the exemptions, the deductions, the credits, the depreciation allowances. And people complain, "Oh my God, it's terrible," but you give them much lower rates and you give them an easier form to file, and people accept that tradeoff.” PeopleGivingCountryAcceptingCuttingTerribleRateComplaining Author:T.R. Reid
