A Step in the Right Direction

David A. Hartman in Chronicles on the report of President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform.

It would be more advisable to put compensation back into the business tax base and credit employers for contributions to social insurance. This would put the highly regressive employer payroll tax in the general tax pool as a quid pro quo. The result would be the business-transfer tax base, which would qualify for WTO border adjustability. A 17.5-percent rate would generate sufficient tax to meet the requirement of tax-revenue neutrality.