Pennsylvania Gives Amazon Potentially Unlimited Sales Tax Exemption
The tech and online retail giant will build at least two data centers in the Keystone State but pay no sales taxes on equipment.
Tax credits
Senate's Tax Bill Will Add $270 Billion to the Deficit Next Year, Despite Gimmicks
The House-passed version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was fiscally irresponsible. The Senate has made the bill worse.
Why Do Republicans Support the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit?
Publicly funded homes in some cities are costing taxpayers more than $1 million per unit, but Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” would increase funding for these inefficient projects.
Trump's Tax Plan Is a Leftist Economic Agenda Wrapped in Populist Talking Points
The administration shows no coherent commitment to free market principles and is in fact actively undermining them.
Both Biden's and Trump's Policies Are Making E.V.s More Expensive
Slate Auto hopes to offer affordable electric vehicles, but it has to navigate federal incentives and restrictions in the process.
Federal Energy Tax Credits Will Cost More Than $4 Trillion. Lawmakers Might Not Cut Them.
Republican members of Congress are lobbying to keep the Inflation Reduction Act's tax credits alive.
Could School Choice Work at the Federal Level?
A nationwide tax credit could expand education freedom overnight—but could also open the door to new forms of federal overreach.
Washington's Debt Delusion: Economic Growth Cannot Fix the Deficit
Republicans are betting trillions on the hope that the economy will grow fast enough to cover their deficit spree.
Jimmy Carter's Gift to Hollywood Was No Gift to Georgia Taxpayers
He set a process in motion that led to the state's wasteful and expensive film tax credits.
Trump and Harris' Economic Plans Are Depressingly Similar
Both campaigns represent variations on a theme of big, fiscally irresponsible, hyper-interventionist government.
J.D. Vance Wants To Control You With Taxes
People making the same income should be paying the same level of taxes no matter how they choose to live their lives.
J.D. Vance Says Childless Americans Should Pay Higher Taxes. They Already Do.
Donald Trump's running mate has discovered the most politically toxic way to demand the status quo.
Netflix's 'Don't Look Up' Got $46 Million From Massachusetts Taxpayers
According to recently updated figures, more than half of the state's film production credits for 2021 went to just one film, whose two stars collectively earned over $50 million.
N.J. Businessman Indicted for Sopranos-Style Economic Development Racket
George Norcross III's alleged actions are almost cartoonishly corrupt. But for economic development programs, it's not too far off from business as usual.
The Best of Reason: Government Can't Fix America's Baby Bust
The obstacles to having more babies can't be moved by tax incentives or subsidized child care.
Government Can't Fix America's Baby Bust
The obstacles to having more babies can't be moved by tax incentives or subsidized child care.
Congress Yet Again Abuses 'Emergency Spending' for Non-Emergency Purposes
Let's just call this what it is: another gimmick for Congress to escape its own budget limits and avoid having a conversation about tradeoffs.
This Tax Week, Remember That the Federal Income Tax Is Relatively New
There are many pervasive myths about the U.S. tax code. Here are a few.
Politicians Are Showering Manufacturing Companies With Crony Subsidies for 'Job Creation.' It Won't Work.
These handouts will flow to businesses—often big and rich—for projects they would likely have taken on anyway.
New Georgia Law Limits Film Tax Credits. But Marvel Would Still Qualify.
While the state senate's bill would cap tax credits at 2.3 percent of the state's budget, any production filming at a big enough studio would be exempt.
Rivian Pauses Construction at Factory That Costs Georgia Taxpayers $1.5 Billion
The company will now build everything in its existing Illinois factory, pausing construction on the Georgia plant until "later."
Biden's Plan To Subsidize Homebuyers Won't Work
The president's laundry list of proposed tax credits would likely make the problem of high housing costs worse.
Congress Continues To Make the Tax Code Ridiculously Hard To Understand
I shouldn't have to spend so much money on an accountant every year. But I don't really have a choice.
Expanding the Child Tax Credit Would Perpetuate Systemic Poverty
The policy is a true budget buster and is ineffective in the long term.
Biden Pours Out Another $6.5 Billion for the CHIPS Act's Costly Protectionism
It's part of the government's expensive public-private partnership meant to address concerns over a reliance on foreign countries, like China, for semiconductors.
Audit Finds New York's $700 Million Film Tax Credits Make Little Difference
The credit "is at best a break-even proposition and more likely a net cost" for the state.
Study Funded by Shell Convinced Pennsylvania To Give Shell $1.6 Billion Tax Break
The tax credits currently rank as the largest subsidy in state history.
Bipartisan Tax Credit Bonanza
Plus: California reparations bills drop, the Biden administration continues the war on gas stoves, and D.C.'s rising crime rate.
The Government Is Better at Picking Losers Than Winners
It's taxpayers who lose when politicians give gifts, grants, and loans to private companies.
St. Louis Schools Lost $260 Million to Economic Development Subsidies
According to a report from Good Jobs First, St. Louis' public schools took the brunt of the loss at nearly 65 percent of the total.
On Economic Issues, the Populist Right and Left Share a Lot of Common Ground
That's bad news for Americans.
All I Want for Christmas Is for Congress To Exercise Fiscal Restraint
Lawmakers can take small steps that are uncontroversial and bipartisan to jumpstart the fiscal stability process.
Georgia Taxpayers Lose $160,000 for Every Job Created by Film Tax Credits
The program generates just 19 cents for every dollar spent.
Tesla's Expensive New Cybertruck May Qualify for $7,500 in E.V. Tax Credits
According to a Treasury Department website, two of the three Cybertruck models currently offered would qualify for tax credits.
Promoting Free Market Solutions to Climate Change at COP28
How to declare a ceasefire in the carbon tariff wars.
The Real Scandal in Washington Is the Government's Reckless Spending
Those sounding the loudest alarms about possible shutdowns are largely silent when Congress ignores its own budgetary rules. All that seems to matter is that government is metaphorically funded.
Companies Seeking CHIPS Act Subsidies Are Encouraged To Double-Dip
At least a dozen states have beefed up targeted incentives to coincide with handouts from the Commerce Department.
Industrial Policy Isn't About Creating Jobs
It's a short-sighted approach that distracts us from the more important question.
Movie Industry Says Georgia's Film Tax Credits Are Great. State Auditors Say They're a Waste of Money.
Contradicting a new report funded by entertainment industry advocates, state auditors have cast significant doubts on the tax credit program's actual effectiveness.
Michigan Has Given the E.V. Industry $1.4 Billion and Counting
Carmakers don't need a crony-capitalist slush fund.
Conservatives Pushing 'Common Good Capitalism' Sound a Lot Like Progressives
The ideology champions the same tired policies that big government types predictably propose whenever they see something they don't like.
Don't Believe the Media Fearmongering About Spending Cuts
In 2019, discretionary spending was $1.338 trillion—or some $320 billion less than what Republicans want that side of the budget to be.
Auditors Asked the IRS To Figure Out Why So Many Taxpayers Make Mistakes. The IRS Said 'No.'
Maybe taxpayers would make fewer mistakes if the federal tax code weren't so hopelessly complex.
Georgia Is Shoveling Cash Into a Failing Electric Vehicle Company
In 2021, the state of Georgia made an expensive bet on an unproven company that could be headed for financial catastrophe.
Electric Car Prices Are Falling, With or Without Tax Credits
The Inflation Reduction Act imposes byzantine requirements to qualify for the credits. Some automakers are simply ignoring them and finding other ways to lower prices.
I Gave Myself Severe Diarrhea for Science. Don't Tax Me for It.
Eliminating taxation on compensation for being a human guinea pig is just good public policy.
Tennessee Will Use Eminent Domain To Evict Black Farmers for Ford E.V. Factory
The state promised Ford nearly $900 million in incentives, including new and upgraded roads. But it chose to run that new road through a number of black-owned farms.
