February 10, 2008

Blog Post Round-Up

by Joseph Henchman

• Bill Introduced in Congress to Affirm Physical Presence Rule: The bipartisan-sponsored Business Activity Tax Simplification Act of 2008 (BATSA) was introduced in Congress. The bill would clarify that state taxation of business income requires a physical presence within the taxing state.
• More Evidence of Cigarette Tax Hikes' Negative Consequences: On the surface, a tax increase may seem like a logical, straightforward way to bring more money into state coffers. However, taxpayers often change their behavior in response to tax increases, and legislators may not get the huge tax increase they hoped for.
• New Tax Policy Podcast with Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson: In this interview, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson discuses her office's role in protecting taxpayer rights, the independence of the office, and the annual report she submits to Congress identifying problems facing taxpayers.
• Kansas Republicans Propose Carbon Tax: The stealthy carbon tax, to be introduced by the Republican majority in both chambers of the Kansas state legislature, would pose a number of problems to KS businesses.
• New Study Shows Smokers and Obese Actually Save Government on Health Care Costs: The next time you hear somebody arguing that it's right to raise taxes on cigarettes or "unhealthy" foods because the consumers of those products impose high government health care costs borne by other taxpayers, tell them flat out they are wrong.