Biden has lost a key battle against the super-rich 28 Sep 2021 The U.S. president’s plan to hike top tax rates has been diluted after howls from the 1%. Rates will rise, but a bid to erase the difference between earnings and investment looks doomed, and Biden may raise $1 trln less than hoped. All the more pressure to spend it effectively.
Xi and Biden share common goal: bashing the rich 27 Sep 2021 Both leaders hope to tax the wealthy to help the middle class. The first bit is easier for one-party China. But it’s the United States that has low-hanging fruit when it comes to spending on education and infrastructure. The result: Each will get only part of what they want.
Capital Calls: U.S. jobs, $7 bln tax settlement 3 Sep 2021 Concise views on global finance: Slow U.S. job growth signals caution for the Fed; meanwhile, a giant deal between hedge fund executives and the IRS gives legs to President Biden's tax plans.
Capital Calls: U.S. jobs, BBQ IPOs, Wm Morrison 6 Aug 2021 Concise views on global finance: The Delta variant puts a leisure job boom at risk; two grill makers’ floats show the IPO market isn’t frozen; Fortress strikes in the bidding war for a UK supermarket.
Review: Turning Beijing’s playbook against it 30 Jul 2021 China wants to become a global hegemon, Rush Doshi, the White House’s lead China wonk, argues in “The Long Game”. To halt its advance, he suggests copying Beijing’s strategy, and discouraging U.S. corporate engagement with China by tweaking taxes. He has few allies and less time.
Nigeria flies the flag for corporate tax self-harm 20 Jul 2021 Abuja’s revenue collectors are trying to extract $4.4 bln from South African pay TV provider MultiChoice. Growing climate change pressures require Africa’s top oil producer to wean itself off energy receipts. Ad hoc squeezing of foreign companies is the wrong way to go about it.
Yellen’s art of the tax deal has difficult sequel 9 Jul 2021 The U.S. Treasury chief was known as an economics wonk instead of a negotiator. Yet she convinced 130 countries to back a minimum corporate levy. Persuading Congress to do the same while preserving the global coalition will present her with tougher and contradictory tasks.
The Exchange: Global tax deal 7 Jul 2021 EY Vice Chair Kate Barton is helping companies figure out a minimum corporate rate agreed to by 130 countries. The historic pact will help raise $150 billion in government revenue. She talks to Gina Chon about the 15% floor, how effective it may be and where it goes from here.
Chancellor: Paying the piper for pandemic recovery 2 Jul 2021 The war on Covid-19 proved remarkably expensive. The U.S. federal deficit ran to $3.4 trillion last year. As the crisis eases, policymakers are thinking about how to foot the bill. Past wars have brought forth new taxes. Consider some fresh sources for raising government revenue.
Imperfect global tax deal is perfect springboard 1 Jul 2021 Almost all governments backed a minimum corporate rate of at least 15% and reallocation of some taxing rights. This will raise a modest sum and do little for poor nations. But such broad accord was worth the compromise as it’s the beginning, not the end, of a revamp of taxation.
Don’t cry for tax havens, Cayman Islands 11 Jun 2021 The Caribbean region has been a shelter from levies for hedge funds and other investment firms. Many of those perks may remain even with a global deal. And caveats – from the UK to Switzerland – suggest that the ambitious multinational plans will be weaker than its headline.
India is well placed to fight G7 tax deal’s flaws 10 Jun 2021 The country wants to charge big tech companies on the basis of local revenue or users, rather than profit. A rich-nation plan offers little on this front. India’s 1.3 bln population and relative openness to foreign companies give it good ground to push for fairer digital levies.
Capital Calls: Warren Buffett’s taxes 8 Jun 2021 Concise views on global finance: A ProPublica report unveils the true tax rate of the Sage of Omaha, Jeff Bezos and other members of the uber-rich elite.
U.S. tech will slip the new global tax net 25 May 2021 The G7 may soon agree a 15% minimum corporate levy. That’s too low to stop profit being shifted to havens, which may dream up new sweeteners. And until Amazon and others pay taxes where they make sales, countries like France, Britain, and India will lose out as tech profit grows.
Capital Calls: Bitcoin, Procore 20 May 2021 Concise views on global finance: Getting paid in cryptocurrencies loses allure in U.S. President Joe Biden's tax plan; the $11 bln building software firm is a bargain compared to peers.
Capital Calls: Amazon EU tax win, Scooter SPAC 21 Jan 2022 Concise views on global finance: Jeff Bezos’s e-commerce giant wins a victory over the European Union, but the battle has already moved on; Bird’s $2.3 billion price tag is relatively high but less pie-in-the-sky than some recent deals.
Guest view: Colombia’s struggle against poverty 11 May 2021 President Duque’s shift of tax burdens to the poor and middle class backfired. Despite their withdrawal and the finance minister’s exit, protests will continue until the country starts reversing Latin America’s worst income inequality, Smith College’s Veronica Kessler writes.
Corporate tax reform may help Ireland in the end 4 May 2021 The Emerald Isle’s allure as a low-levy destination will fade if a global minimum tax rate is agreed. Dublin wants to maintain its appeal by spending over 4% of GDP to fix problems like poor public transport. Such investment will lay the foundations for a more balanced economy.
Biden places $4 trln bet on outsmarting the rich 29 Apr 2021 The U.S. president’s education, childcare and infrastructure sprees are supposed to juice economic growth, while being paid for by taxing the wealthy and companies. How well that works depends on whether plutocrats behave as planned. They have a big incentive to act differently.
Shock at Biden capital-gains tax plan looks staged 23 Apr 2021 A plan to double the rate for the richest to nearly 40% has brought criticism from wealthy investors. But it has been in plain sight for months. It would also raise needed revenue for Washington and bring taxes on investment and regular pay closer with little risk to the economy.