Accounting News

This week it was reported that during her recent trip Poland, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen offered estimates from the EU Tax Observatory as evidence that the Polish government would benefit from supporting the global tax deal. Poland has been cautious to lend its support to the EU legislation to implement the minimum tax rules, and

Last month the European Union (EU) gave the final green light to update the EU Value-added Tax (VAT) Directive and broaden the list of goods and services to which two reduced VAT rates can be applied while allowing for a reduced VAT rate below 5 percent for the first time. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic,

Inheritance tax dates to the Roman Empire, which collected 5 percent of inherited property to pay soldiers’ pensions. Today, the practice of inheritance tax is widespread. The majority of European countries covered in today’s map currently levy estate, inheritance, or gift taxes. These countries are Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,

Wyoming is, without question, a low tax state, with the nation’s second-lowest overall tax burdens on residents[1] and highly competitive taxes for many businesses. Residents benefit from the high exportability of state taxes, particularly those on extractive industries. Taxes on oil, gas, coal, and other industries are borne by investors and consumers across the country

At a moment when we are seeing clear weaknesses in supply chains and needs for gearing production toward more environmentally friendly approaches, capital investment is critical. Policymakers have an opportunity to change a coming decline in investment incentives by adopting permanent policies to support growth. Expiring tax policies in major economies could create a setback

Key Findings A capital allowance is the amount of capital investment costs a business can deduct from its revenue through the tax code via depreciation. Ideally, countries should provide higher capital allowances, as they can boost business investment which, in turn, spurs economic growth. The average of OECD countries’ capital allowances gradually decreased between 2000

The second round of voting in the French presidential election will be 24 April between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and National Rally candidate Marine Le Pen. Although tax policy has not been a central theme of the campaign due to the war in Ukraine, immigration debates, and cost of living issues, the winner’s policy preferences over

“New own resources should fulfil the criteria of simplicity, transparency, predictability, and fairness.” One would think that the above recommendation came from a Tax Foundation report on principled EU own resources policy. While we would like to claim credit, the recommendation, rather, comes from the EU’s own 2016 Monti report and more recently, the EU’s

Net wealth taxes are recurrent taxes on an individual’s wealth, net of debt. The concept of a net wealth tax is similar to a real property tax. But instead of only taxing real estate, it covers all wealth an individual owns. As today’s map shows, only three European OECD countries levy a net wealth tax, namely

In times of inflation, like we are experiencing now, a review of the tax code shows that some provisions are automatically indexed, or adjusted, to match inflation, while others are not. And that creates unfair burdens for taxpayers. But it’s not always as simple as just “adjusting for inflation.” That works for some structural components

This week’s state tax map looks at throwback and throwout rules in states’ corporate tax codes. These rules may not be widely understood, but they have a notable impact on business location and investment decisions and reduce economic efficiency for the states which impose such rules. Over the long run, these rules reduce competitiveness while yielding very

Before competing in the UEFA Champions League, football clubs in Europe also compete to lure the best players. After the “Bosman ruling” abolished the limit of foreign players allowed on a team, in 1995, the share of foreign players in the European football clubs went up dramatically. With Europe’s high degree of cross-border mobility, taxes

In most European OECD countries, corporate income is taxed twice, once at the entity level and once at the shareholder level. Before shareholders pay taxes, the business first faces the corporate income tax. A business pays corporate income tax on its profits; thus, when the shareholder pays their layer of tax they are doing so

After the failed approach of the Trump administration’s tariffs and trade war along with the current need to reduce inflation and increase productive capacity, we hoped the administration would reevaluate the tariffs. But under the Biden administration’s new trade policy agenda, most U.S. businesses will continue facing tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of imported

A bill that would prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products, HB22-1064, is moving through the Colorado legislature, which undoubtedly would have a significant impact on the revenue from taxes levied on those products. Flavored tobacco and nicotine products make up a significant portion of the market: over 20 percent of cigarettes and

How do taxes in your state compare regionally and nationally? Facts and Figures, a resource we’ve provided to U.S. taxpayers and legislators since 1941, serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more. For visualizations and further analysis of 2022 state tax data, explore

In recent years, EU countries have undertaken a series of tax reforms designed to maintain tax revenue levels while supporting investment and economic growth. In general, tax reforms focused on reducing individual and corporate income tax rates while increasing environmental or wealth taxes. However, as summarized here, not all tax reforms were created equal. Poorly

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. When you are in the beginning stages of starting a business, it is often challenging to balance all the necessary assets you need to be successful. One of the most influential people you should have on your team is a competent accountant or accounting and tax planning

As the deadline for the 2022 tax filing season nears, the IRS faces scrutiny for its backlog of returns, inaccessible taxpayer service, and delays in issuing certain refunds. As of January 28th, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had 23.7 million returns awaiting action, compared to a typical backlog at that point of roughly 1 million

Households across the country are struggling with the effects of high inflation. We usually think of inflation in terms of higher prices which erode purchasing power, but the interaction of inflation with tax codes hit many taxpayers with a one-two punch. Not only do taxpayers’ incomes not go as far, but a greater share of