Building on previous FAD work in the tax administration field, this paper defines broad criteria for diagnosing the problems in a country’s tax administration and formulating an appropriate reform strategy. To be effective, this strategy should be based on the size of the tax gap and the country’s particular circumstances. This paper discusses some guiding principles which have provided the basis for successful reforms, including: reducing the tax system’s complexity, encouraging taxpayers’ voluntary compliance, differentiating the treatment of taxpayers by their revenue potential, and ensuring the reform’s effective management. Also discussed are specific bottlenecks that hinder the effectiveness of the tax administration’s operations.

There is no consensus on how strongly the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has stimulated U.S. private fixed investment. Some argue that the business tax provisions spurred investment by cutting the cost of capital. Others see the TCJA primarily as a windfall for shareholders. We find that U.S. business investment since 2017 has grown strongly compared to pre-TCJA forecasts and that the overriding factor driving it has been the strength of expected aggregate demand. Investment has, so far, fallen short of predictions based on the postwar relation with tax cuts. Model simulations and firm-level data suggest that much of this weaker response reflects a lower sensitivity of investment to tax policy changes in the current environment of greater corporate market power. Economic policy uncertainty in 2018 played a relatively small role in dampening investment growth.

Modernizing Learning: Building the Future Learning Ecosystem is an implementation blueprint for connecting learning experiences across time and space. This co-created plan represents an advancement of how and where learning will occur in the future. Extensive learning and technological research has been conducted across the myriad disciplines and communities needed to develop this holistic maturation of the learning continuum. These advancements have created the opportunity for formal and informal learning experiences to be accessible anywhere, anytime, and to be personalized to individual needs. However, for full implementation and maximal benefits for learners of all ages and within all communities to be achieved, it is necessary to centralize and coordinate the required connections across technology, learning science, and the greater supporting structures. Accordingly, the ADL Initiative has taken the lead in this coordination process, connecting Government, Military, Academia, Industry, and K-12 teachers, instructors, technologists, researchers, and implementers to create and execute a coordinated transition process. Input was included from stakeholders, communities, and supporting entities which will be involved in this advancement of the life-long learning ecosystem.

Making the Modern American Fiscal State chronicles the rise of the US system of direct and progressive taxation.

What would separate Union and Confederate countries look like if the South had won the Civil War? In fact, this was something that southern secessionists actively debated. Imagining themselves as nation builders, they understood the importance of a plan for the economic structure of the Confederacy. The traditional view assumes that Confederate slave-based agrarianism went hand in hand with a natural hostility toward industry and commerce. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, John Majewski's analysis finds that secessionists strongly believed in industrial development and state-led modernization. They blamed the South's lack of development on Union policies of discriminatory taxes on southern commerce and unfair subsidies for northern industry. Majewski argues that Confederates' opposition to a strong central government was politically tied to their struggle against northern legislative dominance. Once the Confederacy was formed, those who had advocated states' rights in the national legislature in order to defend against northern political dominance quickly came to support centralized power and a strong executive for war making and nation building.

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)

The electronic invoicing (EI) of taxes is one of Latin America’s contributions to international taxation in support of the fight against evasion, global efforts towards tax transparency, and the digitization of tax administrations (TAs). Initially, EI was conceived as an instrument of documentary control over the invoicing process, so as to avert both the omission of sales and the inclusion of false purchases. The original idea was extended to other areas of tax control, such as payroll, goods in transit, and new services such as factoring. To some extent, EI can be regarded as the start of the process of digitizing the TAs in the broad sense. This publication addresses the pioneering experience of EI in Latin America, from its implementation to its extensions and impact on tax collection.