Tax Law
97 entries
Stamp Act 1765
The Stamp Act of 1765 required American colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they ...
Magna Carta Taxation
Magna Carta, signed in 1215, limited the power of King John to impose taxes without consent. Clause ...
US Income Tax 1861
The first US federal income tax was enacted in 1861 to fund the Civil War. The Revenue Act of 1861 i...
16th Amendment
The 16th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1913, gave Congress the power to lay and coll...
Federal Reserve Act
The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 created the central banking system of the United States. While not a...
Reagan Tax Cut 1981
The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, signed by President Reagan, was the largest tax cut in US his...
Trump Tax Cut 2017
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was the most significant US tax reform since 1986. The act reduced...
Bush Tax Cuts 2001
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Rec...
VAT Introduction France
The value added tax was invented by French economist Maurice Lauré in 1954. VAT is a consumption tax...
GST India 2017
The Goods and Services Tax launched on July 1, 2017, was the largest tax reform in Indian history. G...
Tea Tax India 2025
India is the second largest tea producer in the world. Tea has historically been taxed through GST a...
Carbon Tax Sweden
Sweden introduced the worlds first carbon tax in 1991, initially at 27 per ton of CO2. The tax was p...
Carbon Tax Australia
Australia introduced a carbon pricing scheme in 2012 under Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The scheme ...
Flat Tax Estonia
Estonia became the first country to introduce a flat tax in 1994, setting a single rate of 26 percen...
Flat Tax Russia
Russia replaced its progressive income tax with a 13 percent flat tax in 2001. The reform was dramat...
Estate Tax US
The US federal estate tax was enacted in 1916. The tax is levied on the transfer of property at deat...
Capital Gains Tax History
The US capital gains tax was established in 1921, setting preferential rates for long term capital g...
Corporate Tax History
The US corporate income tax was enacted in 1909 as a 1 percent excise tax on corporate income. The t...
Sin Tax Tobacco
Sin taxes are excise taxes on goods considered harmful, primarily tobacco, alcohol, and gambling. To...
Sugar Tax Mexico
Mexico implemented a tax on sugar sweetened beverages in 2014, setting a 1 peso per liter tax, appro...
Sales Tax USA
Sales taxes in the United States are imposed by state and local governments. The first state sales t...
Income Tax UK
British income tax was introduced by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger in 1799 to fund the Nap...
Sales Tax VAT China
China introduced VAT in 1984, initially applying it only to certain industrial goods. VAT was gradua...
Digital Services Tax
Digital services taxes, or DSTs, are taxes on the revenue of large technology companies. The UK intr...
Global Minimum Tax
The global minimum tax, agreed by over 140 countries in October 2021, sets a 15 percent minimum effe...
FATCA Reporting
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, enacted in 2010, requires foreign financial institutions to ...
EU VAT System
The European Union VAT system was established by the Sixth VAT Directive in 1977 and modernized by t...
Goods and Services Tax Australia
Australias Goods and Services Tax was introduced on July 1, 2000, under Prime Minister John Howard. ...
Sales Tax Canada GST HST
Canadas Goods and Services Tax was introduced in 1991 at 7 percent by the Mulroney government. The G...
Inheritance Tax UK
UK inheritance tax, currently at 40 percent on estates over 325,000, was introduced in its modern fo...
Wealth Tax France
France introduced the Impot de Solidarite sur la Fortune, or wealth tax, in 1981 under President Mit...
Wealth Tax Spain
Spain has had a wealth tax since 1977. The tax applies to net wealth over 700,000, with rates from 0...
Property Tax USA
Property taxes in the United States are levied by local governments, primarily counties, municipalit...
Proposition 13 California
California Proposition 13, passed in 1978, was a landmark property tax limitation. The initiative ca...
Earned Income Tax Credit
The Earned Income Tax Credit, enacted in 1975, is a refundable tax credit for low to moderate income...
Child Tax Credit
The Child Tax Credit was enacted in 1997 at 400 per child. The credit was gradually increased over t...
FICA Payroll Tax
FICA, the Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax, funds Social Security and Medicare. The Social Se...
Self Employment Tax
Self employed individuals pay both the employer and employee portions of FICA, totaling 15.3 percent...
State Income Tax
State income taxes vary dramatically across the United States. Wisconsin was the first state to impl...
Google Tax Diverted
The Diverted Profits Tax, commonly known as the Google Tax, was introduced in the UK in 2015. The ta...
Mansion Tax UK
The UK mansion tax was a proposed annual tax on properties worth over 2 million, advocated by the Li...
FATCA GATCA Implementation
FATCA went into effect in 2014 after a four year implementation period. Foreign banks invested billi...
Cryptocurrency Tax
The taxation of cryptocurrency varies by country. In the US, the IRS classified cryptocurrency as pr...
NFT Tax Implications
NFTs create complex tax issues. Buying an NFT with cryptocurrency triggers a capital gains event on ...
Tea Act 1773
The Tea Act of 1773 was passed by Parliament to bail out the British East India Company. The act gav...
Tariff of Abominations
The Tariff of 1828 was a protective tariff that imposed high duties on imported goods. Southern stat...
Morrill Tariff
The Morrill Tariff of 1861 was a high protective tariff passed just before the Civil War. The tariff...
Smoot Hawley Tariff
The Smoot Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 raised US tariffs to their highest levels in history. The averag...
GATT Trade Agreement
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was signed in 1947 by 23 countries. GATT established a fr...
Section 301 Tariffs
Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows the US to impose tariffs on countries that engage in unf...
FairTax Proposal
The FairTax is a proposal to replace all US federal taxes with a 23 percent national sales tax on al...
Carbon Tax British Columbia
British Columbia introduced the first revenue neutral carbon tax in North America in 2008. The tax s...
Robin Hood Tax
The Robin Hood Tax, also called the financial transaction tax or Tobin tax, is a proposed small tax ...
Tampon Tax
The tampon tax refers to the application of sales tax or VAT to menstrual hygiene products, which ar...
Digital Currency Taxation
Central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, create new tax issues. Unlike cash, CBDC transactions cou...
Corporate Tax Ireland Detail
Irelands low corporate tax rate began in 1956 when the government offered a zero tax rate on export ...
Tax Reform Act 1986
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 was the most comprehensive US tax reform of the 20th century. The act was...
Income Tax Germany
Modern German income tax was established by the Miquel Tax Reform of 1891, named after Finance Minis...
GST Malaysia
Malaysia introduced GST at 6 percent in 2015 under Prime Minister Najib Razak. The tax replaced the ...
VAT Brazil Complexity
Brazil has one of the most complex tax systems in the world. The Brazilian VAT system includes ICMS ...
Stamp Act 1765 Detail
The Stamp Act required colonists to purchase stamped paper for legal documents, newspapers, and play...
Sugar Act 1764
The Sugar Act of 1764, officially the American Revenue Act, was the first tax imposed on the America...
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts of 1767 imposed duties on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea imported to the colo...
Coercive Acts 1774
The Coercive Acts, called the Intolerable Acts by American colonists, were passed in response to the...
Tea Act Smuggling
Before the Tea Act, colonists smuggled an estimated 5.6 million pounds of tea annually from Holland ...
Reagan Tax Reform
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 was signed by President Reagan on October 22, 1986. The act was the resul...
Clinton Tax Increase
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, signed by President Clinton, raised the top individua...
Tax Cut JFK
President Kennedy proposed a major tax cut in 1963 to stimulate the economy. The Revenue Act of 1964...
Bush Tax Cut 2008
The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 provided tax rebates to approximately 130 million American househo...
Obama Tax Cut Payroll
The payroll tax cut of 2011 temporarily reduced the employee portion of the Social Security tax from...
R&D Tax Credit
The Research and Experimentation Tax Credit was enacted in 1981 to encourage corporate research spen...
SALT Deduction Cap
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 capped the state and local tax SALT deduction at 10,000. Previousl...
Opportunity Zones
Opportunity Zones were created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to encourage investment in low i...
Gift Tax History
The US gift tax was enacted in 1924 to prevent taxpayers from avoiding the estate tax by giving away...
Generation Skipping Tax
The generation skipping transfer tax GST was enacted in 1986 to prevent families from avoiding estat...
Qualified Business Income
The Qualified Business Income deduction, also known as Section 199A or the pass through deduction, w...
Net Investment Income Tax
The Net Investment Income Tax NIIT was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and took e...
Alternative Minimum Tax
The Alternative Minimum Tax was enacted in 1969 after Treasury Secretary Joseph Barr revealed that 1...
Stanley v Illinois Tax
While not a tax case in the traditional sense, Stanley v Illinois 1972 established important princip...
EU Tax Harmonization
The European Union has pursued tax harmonization since the 1960s. The EU VAT system is the most harm...
Tax Exempt Organizations
Tax exempt organizations in the US include charities, religious organizations, educational instituti...
Church Tax Germany
Germany collects a church tax Kirchensteuer of 8 to 9 percent of income tax for members of recognize...
Church Tax Scandinavia
Scandinavian countries have various forms of church tax. In Denmark, the state Lutheran church is fu...
State Tax Competition
US states compete for businesses and residents through tax policy. States without income tax, like T...
Amazon HQ2 Tax Breaks
Amazon announced its second headquarters, HQ2, in 2017, inviting cities to compete with tax incentiv...
Foxconn Wisconsin Tax Deal
In 2017, Foxconn announced a 10 billion display factory in Wisconsin, promoted by President Trump an...
Sin Tax Alcohol
Alcohol taxes are among the oldest sin taxes. In 1600, England imposed taxes on beer and ale. Alcoho...
Sugar Tax UK
The UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy, commonly called the sugar tax, was introduced in 2018. The tax cha...
Plastic Tax
Plastic taxes aim to reduce plastic waste and encourage recycling. The UK Plastic Packaging Tax, lau...
Nitrogen Tax
The Netherlands faced massive farmer protests over nitrogen emission regulations. Dutch courts ruled...
Carbon Border Tax EU
The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism CBAM started its transitional phase in October 2023. CBAM ...
Tourist Tax
Tourist taxes are levied on visitors to fund tourism infrastructure and manage overtourism. Venice i...
Wealth Tax Norway
Norway has a wealth tax of approximately 1 percent on net wealth over 1.7 million NOK for individual...
Wealth Tax Argentina
Argentina has a personal assets tax on net worth. The tax was introduced in 1991 and has been modifi...
Inheritance Tax Japan
Japan has the highest inheritance tax rate in the world, with a top marginal rate of 55 percent on l...
Inheritance Tax USA Debate
The US estate tax, nicknamed the death tax by opponents, has been politically contentious since its ...
Capital Gains Realization
The debate over taxing unrealized capital gains intensified in 2021 when Senator Ron Wyden proposed ...