News – Page 11 – Matrix Global Advisors

Aug92017

Shop Online? Internet Retailers Have a Tax Advantage Congress Must End

August 9, 2017Filed Under: Op-Eds

In recent years, internet sales have grown by nearly 15 percent per year, compared to 4 percent per year for brick-and-mortar retail sales. Although e-commerce represents less than 9 percent of total retail sales, this shift in where we shop is eroding states’ sales tax base. Under the Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, sellers without a physical presence in a state cannot be required to collect and remit that state’s sales tax. As a result, online sellers have an artificial competitive advantage over local brick-and-mortar sellers, who must collect sales tax from their customers. Congress needs to end this unfair tax advantage.

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Jul262017

Alex Brill Interviewed on Marketplace

July 26, 2017Filed Under: Interviews

While discussing middle class and corporate tax cuts, Alex Brill says, “The White House has not outlined a revenue neutral tax plan. That’s for certain.”

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Jul242017

A Few Comments on E-Cigarettes and Cigarette Smoking Among Adolescents and Young Adults

July 24, 2017Filed Under: Op-Eds

In a recent JAMA Pediatrics article on the correlation between e-cigarette use and subsequent cigarette smoking among adolescents and young adults, Dartmouth demographer Samir Soneji and his co-authors find that the probability of cigarette smoking at follow-up is significantly higher among all e-cigarette users than among individuals who never used a nicotine product. Based on this finding, they conclude that “strong e-cigarette regulation” by the federal, state, and local governments are needed to minimize the potential “future population-level burden of tobacco.” This conclusion is unwarranted based on the nature of their results.

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Jun292017

Trump, Amazon, and Taxes

June 29, 2017Filed Under: News

Back in 2012, my AEI colleague Alex Brill wrote about the wisdom of combining internet sales taxes with income-tax base broadening. Back then, Congress was considering legislation, the Marketplace Equity Act, that would have permitted states to collect the sales tax they are owed when their residents purchase goods online from out-of-state sellers.

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Jun232017

Happy Birthday, #BetterWay Tax Plan

June 23, 2017Filed Under: Op-Eds

Saturday marks the first birthday of the House GOP’s tax reform blueprint, “A Better Way: Our Vision for a Confident America.” Happy birthday, Tax Plan. To be honest, little man, when you were born you only got modest attention from those outside your immediate family. It was a busy time for the rest of us. We were watching Donald Trump clear the field of his fellow Republican candidates and were speculating about the likely fiscal agenda of Hillary Clinton.

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Jun62017

Let’s Scrap Regulations in Favor of a Carbon Tax

June 6, 2017Filed Under: Op-Eds

Tax reform is hot this year, and rightly so. Mending an outdated tax system is an important political and policy objective. I am optimistic that Republican lawmakers will be successful, but no matter the scale or scope of this effort, it will not be the last big tax bill. Because tax reform is a perpetual effort, it is not too early to start considering post-tax-reform tax reform ideas.

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Jun52017

MGA’s Alex Brill Serves as a Panelist for C-SPAN’s “Tax Policy & The Economy”

June 5, 2017Filed Under: Events

Alex Brill discussed the Earned Income Tax Credit: “One of the things I note when I think about the federal income tax with respect to low and moderate income workers in the disparity to which the tax code affects different people within that population differently. That’s always true across the income spectrum but it’s particularly true among low and middle income families and households.”

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Jun12017

Carbon Tax Policy: A Conservative Dialogue on Pro-Growth Opportunities

June 1, 2017Filed Under: Books

Conservatives generally agree on the need for policies that promote economic growth and improve the efficiency of the economy. When it comes to clean energy and carbon pollution, conservatives must find pro-growth solutions or risk ceding these areas to others. We can’t simply disengage on these issues, or our nation’s prosperity will suffer. Fortunately, there is momentum among voters to pursue conservative ideas for reducing carbon emissions. This book is intended to be a resource in that endeavor.

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May152017

Tax on E-Cigs Should be Zero

May 15, 2017Filed Under: News

“[Alex] Brill said that the good news was that the clinical evidence clearly indicated that e-cigarettes were less risky substitutes for conventional cigarettes.

‘Given that a core objective of the European Commission Tobacco Products Directive is to ensure “a high level of health protection for European citizens”, the proper tax to levy on e-cigarettes should be self-evident: none,’ he wrote.”

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May112017

Don’t Thwart an Ally in the War on Tobacco

May 11, 2017Filed Under: Op-Eds

As cigarette use decreases, it may be tempting to supplement declining tobacco tax revenues with a tax on e-cigarettes — a relatively new, less risky alternative to traditional cigarettes. Following actions by some European nations, the European Commission is now contemplating the proper tax treatment of e-cigarettes and has just finalised a public consultation on the topic. Taxing e-cigarettes would have a negative effect on nascent, but important, public health gains.

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