Business Taxes Reinvented: A Term Sheet

Abstract

This short overview and accompanying term sheet summarize the key features of a proposed comprehensive business tax environment termed the Dual Business Enterprise Income Tax (the Dual BEIT). The term sheet format is a useful mode of presentation for capturing in one accessible document the major policy recommendations of the Dual BEIT (or any other comprehensive tax reform proposal). This paper makes the case that the Dual BEIT satisfies the objectives of policymakers from both parties for comprehensive business tax reform that can serve as the platform for economic growth while collecting appropriate levels of tax revenue. The arguments are developed further in two more detailed papers: Capital Taxation in an Age of Inequality, 90 So. Cal. L. Rev. 593 (2017), and The Right Tax at the Right Time, Fla. Tax Rev. (forthcoming). Revisions since the first posting of this paper relate primarily to: (i) Significant refinements to the taxation of Participating Controlling Owners to better coordinate sales and distributions, and to better ensure that returns to a PCO’s actual capital investment are treated consistently with capital invested by a passive investor. (ii) Suggestions for an optional Entrepreneurship Allowance, to reflect policymakers’ preferences for lower tax rates on “entrepreneurs” or “small business.” (iii) Transition rules.