Professor Pomp on principles of taxation

Here’s a list of state and local tax expert Richard Pomp’s 12 tips to tax policy:

  1. Don’t look for the Holy Grail. There is no Holy Grail.
  2. Never use a shotgun if a rifle will do.
  3. Be risk inverse.  Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.
  4.  The income tax is the only progressive element of a tax code.
  5. There is no free lunch.
  6.  Do no harm.
  7.  Be wary of tax rankings.
  8.  Taxes have little influence on where people live.
  9. If you want to attract recent grads, or attract dot-coms, you have to create the conditions to encourage them to stay in Nebraska.
  10. Taxing business inputs will change the structure of a sales tax and is bad policy.  Taxing services should be considered.
  11. Tax incentives result in waste in taxation and present a transparency issue.
  12. Taxes should be constantly monitored.

Professor Pomp was in Lincoln on Jan. 17 to speak at our symposium on tax reform.

View a document with more of Dr. Pomp’s thoughts on taxation principles.

Videos of Dr. Pomp’s presentations will be available soon.