Wonder Land: Negotiating with the opposition, the left concluded, merely impedes achieving their policy goals. Images: AP/Bloomberg News/Getty Images Composite: Mark KellyPresident Biden’s first three domestic spending programs will give taxpayers a $5.7 trillion sticker shock, with advertised costs of $1.9 trillion for Covid-19 relief, at least $2 trillion for infrastructure, and $1.8 trillion for family benefits.
That’s not the case for the government. There are hidden costs and excess burdens associated with the imposition of taxes. The Internal Revenue Service, for example, must extract taxes from taxpayers, and the costs of operating the IRS are significant. Look no further than Mr. Biden’s proposal to increase IRS funding $80 billion to collect the taxes to fund his new big-government programs.
There are also burdens placed on taxpayers that go well beyond the visible tax payments they make. These include myriad compliance costs: record-keeping, studying tax laws, making calculations, filling out forms, grappling with enforcement actions, and so on. These administrative and compliance costs are relatively easy to comprehend. A more difficult concept is the excess burden of additional taxes—the disincentives and distortions they impose on the economy. Without those taxes, the economy would generate more income and do it more efficiently.
The hidden costs associated with IRS administration and taxpayer compliance are estimated to be in the range of 10 cents to 25 cents for each additional dollar of tax revenue collected. The late Martin Feldstein, in a 1999
opinion steve_hanke In other words the equivalent of a couple years of defense spending
opinion steve_hanke Thanks for weighing in, Rupert. What's the 'real cost' of the $50T in Republican tax cuts over the last 40 years? $500T?
opinion steve_hanke You guys brought Indian Congress to power, now it will think about poor and spending will be to make deficit, debt etc. Enjoy 👍🏻
opinion steve_hanke Well it’s a good thing that most of the big items in this project will be amortized/depreciation over their useful life.
opinion steve_hanke So is he spending money to make my left ear hurt now?
opinion steve_hanke I’ve never quite understood which budget years he’s talking about with these gargantuan spending proposals but I’m praying it’s not all this coming year. Lawd, we need a fiscal conservative somewhere, anywhere, anyone?
opinion steve_hanke Scary!!!! Stop this administration is out of control!!!!
opinion steve_hanke Anything to preserve that massive tax cut, huh?
opinion steve_hanke House GOP leader now takes credit for the Covid relief bill every GOP member voted against. The same will happen with infrastructure. Corporations and the wealthy will pay a fairer share of taxes. GOP still pushing Goebbels style Big Lie, voter suppression, & worshipping a loser.
opinion steve_hanke I actually heard it was closer to 48 gajillion dollars.
opinion steve_hanke Yeah and the 39% tax rate in 1993 was supposed to doom the economy. Instead, we experienced what was at the time the longest economic expansion in our history only eclipsed by Obama’s economic expansion. But let’s criticize the Dem presidents. What do they know?
opinion steve_hanke
opinion steve_hanke
opinion steve_hanke “Is Hanke simply a quack peddler of economic nonsense who somehow wormed his way into presidential favor? Well, yes and no. Yes, in the sense that he is, at the very least, a self-promoter...”