October 31, 2006
For immediate release
Media contact: Brian Phillips (202) 464-5102
Washington D.C. -- The country needs a new tax system for a new economy, said David Brunori, Executive Vice President of Editorial Operations at Tax Analysts.
"The current system was devised for a different time and a far different economy," he said. "The sales tax started during the Great Depression, the income tax about a generation before that, and the property tax, of course, has been around since the beginning of time. And these taxes have not changed significantly since their inception."
Brunori discussed what he thought a 21st-century tax system might look like in the Tax Foundation's most recent Tax Policy Podcast.
He disparaged the state corporate income tax and said it should be repealed. "It doesn't work for a variety of reasons," he said, the primary one being that it creates incentives for states to complicate their tax structures in an effort to benefit in-state companies.
He addressed the rise of the gross receipts tax in some states calling it a "hidden levy" on consumers.
"States are doing it for one reason: they're money machines," he said. "They are passed on in large part to consumers who don't really know they're paying the tax."
"Fat taxes" also drew the ire of Brunori.
"The cynical side of me says that they're merely a way of raising revenue under the veneer of 'doing good'," he said. "Supporters of such taxes really want to spend more on public services, but don't have the courage to get out there and raise real taxes to do it."
The interview is Number 13 in the Tax Foundation’s podcast series. It’s available online at http://www.taxfoundation.org/podcast/show/1967.html.
The Foundation publishes a podcast each Tuesday, featuring an interview that sheds light on the nation’s tax system. Best known for its annual calculation of Tax Freedom Day®, the Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937.
For media inquires please email Brian Phillips or call 202.464.5102.