Tax

New York entertains a lesson in secession

10 Jan 2020

Staten Island may reanimate a 26-year-old bid to break away from the Big Apple. There are countless reasons not to, and the economic case is sketchy – but residents could back it anyway. New York’s “forgotten borough” is a fitting ambassador for a world that’s getting smaller.

Review: Everyone loses in “Laundromat” shell game

8 Nov 2019

Legalese rarely makes for a snappy screenplay. But Steven Soderbergh’s dark farce about the Panama Papers tries to do just that. It might not fully succeed, but kudos to the director for skewering the pretensions of today’s masters of the universe – including those in Hollywood.

Bolsonaro’s epic pensions victory may be his last

23 Oct 2019

Brazil’s president has secured a budget-saving $195 bln overhaul of the country’s retirement program. It’s a success that eluded plenty of his predecessors. But the far-right leader’s low approval ratings and endless controversies may make tax and spending reforms a tougher slog.

Review: Making American taxes great again

11 Oct 2019

In “The Triumph of Injustice”, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman call for a return to a time when U.S. taxes hurt the rich by squeezing mega-fortunes and making corporations pay up. The book’s history is good and its recommendations are sensible. But the politics look challenging.

Global tax war inches towards a fragile peace

9 Oct 2019

The OECD wants companies like Facebook to pay tax partly based on where they make revenue, rather than where profit is declared. It makes sense. But even if countries agree with the idea, national interests mean it will be a long slog before the principle is put into practice.

Hadas: American wealth tax starts looking doable

9 Oct 2019

What seemed like political theatre at the start of the Democratic debates has gone mainstream, embraced by leading presidential contenders. A capital levy would slow the pace of inequality, if the public mood changes enough. More surprisingly, it might even help the economy.

Trump’s booze tariffs may cause extended hangover

3 Oct 2019

Washington slapped levies on $7.5 bln of European imports including Scottish whisky and French wine in return for aircraft subsidies. That’s weaker than feared: Less than 5% of Diageo’s sales are affected, Jefferies reckons. But trade tensions could prompt more trips to the bar.

Germany’s climate menu mixes small beer and fudge

20 Sep 2019

Angela Merkel’s coalition will begin pricing carbon at 26 euros a tonne to reduce emissions. That gives big polluters little incentive to clean up. It also limits Berlin’s need to disguise that its new 50 bln euro fund to smooth the transition will stay off-balance sheet.

The Exchange: Enrico Letta

10 Sep 2019

Italy’s new coalition government, cobbled together from the centre-left and quixotic 5-Star Movement, has been greeted gleefully by markets and EU allies. But one former prime minister warns about complacency, calling for a reset with Brussels, tax cuts and renewed investment.

Phantom FDI screams need for new tax ghostbusters

9 Sep 2019

About 40% of foreign direct investment - $15 trln - is designed to minimise corporate tax, says the IMF. Major economies’ efforts to win income back from havens like Luxembourg have failed. The OECD’s Big Tech tax reform ideas, and states’ self-interest, offer the best way out.

U.S. manufacturing slump is a self-inflicted wound

3 Sep 2019

American factory activity fell for the first time in three years in August, as President Trump’s trade war with China hit home. Fresh tariffs could compound the woes. At least manufacturing’s role in the economy has shrunk. But that underscores the futility of White House policy.

Trump’s chaos theory of negotiation is a dead end

26 Aug 2019

The U.S. president says trade talks are back on with Beijing three days after escalating tariffs and calling Chinese leader Xi Jinping an “enemy.” Yet his erratic aims and tenor make it hard for counterparties to engage, as the G7 demonstrated. It’s no way to strike a good deal.

Breakdown: The global fight over Big Tech’s taxes

22 Aug 2019

OECD countries are trying to agree a new set of rules for the likes of Google. States in Europe and elsewhere want more income from digital behemoths but could well face U.S. intransigence. That makes a messy patchwork of local levies and American countermeasures likely.

U.S.-China trade war hinges on farmers, not Apple

13 Aug 2019

The Trump administration is delaying import tariffs on some electronics, giving the iPhone maker and the S&P 500 a boost. That’s down to business lobbying and a little pragmatism. But the president wants to boost American agriculture. Until China helps, investors can’t rest easy.

Undoing Trump’s tax cuts harder than it looks

30 Jul 2019

Democratic presidential contenders want to scrap the White House’s signature legislative win. The measure helped companies and the wealthy but also provided some breaks for the middle class, making it tricky to roll back. And a corporate tax hike could trigger a market downturn.

Irn-Bru maker learns limits of customer virtue

16 Jul 2019

Soft-drinks maker A.G. Barr’s shares fell by 26% after it forecast weaker-than-expected sales. One factor was the UK tax on sugar, another was punters’ reluctance to pay up for healthier recipes. Hoping to keep selling both safer and more-profitable products is backfiring.

U.S. corporate earnings lose their tax-cut mojo

15 Jul 2019

Forecasts now show S&P 500 profit declining in the second quarter, a sharp turnaround from a year ago, as revenue gains slow. Prognosticators see earnings growth back in double digits in 2020, but they could be wrong again – a possibility record stock prices may not reflect.

Trump lands pre-emptive blow in digital tax fight

11 Jul 2019

The U.S. president threatened tariffs on France for its plans to introduce a digital levy on groups like Facebook. The move gives him more leverage in discussions on how to reform international corporate tax. It also means there’s a lot more riding on the success of those talks.

A plutocrat president is up for re-election

21 Jun 2019

Donald Trump launched his 2020 campaign with a populist appeal to America’s forgotten men and women. His signature first-term legislation slashed taxes for companies, which now hand over the least in decades despite abundant profit. Such actions speak louder than Trump’s words.

UK tax havens’ new look has old problem

20 Jun 2019

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man will consider publishing the real owners of companies registered there by 2023 – in line with the European Union. Great. Yet illicit money will linger in the tax havens if any new system is policed as poorly as in Britain.