Frequently Searched

Academic Transparency

Civil Forfeiture

Critical Race Theory

Right to Try

School Choice

The Missing Reform: Regulatory Tax Credits

November 4, 2014
by Outside Author

Across the country, people seeking work in harmless occupations, including barbers, cosmetologists, dental hygienists, and even frog farmers, are forced to spend thousands of dollars and otherwise productive hours complying with regulations. The cost of state-imposed regulations in California alone was recently estimated at nearly $500 billion. Federal regulations have been estimated to cost $1.75 trillion per year, which is roughly 14 percent of total national income. All of these incredibly costly regulations slow economic activity and prevent the creation of jobs and wealth. Unfortunately, efforts to rein in excessive regulations have proven inadequate.

The fundamental problem is that government has little reason to stop overregulating because it loses little or nothing from doing so. But there is a powerful way to give government the missing incentive it needs—the regulatory tax credit. This credit would allow taxpayers to reduce their taxes in an amount equal to the cost of complying with excessive regulation. That single change would force policymakers to carefully consider the costs of new regulations and ensure they are truly designed to protect public health and safety.

The regulatory tax credit would also be a powerful job-creation tool. By discouraging overregulation and the costs associated with it, businesses would be freed to invest and hire. In today’s tough economy, the regulatory tax credit cannot come soon enough.

Read “The Missing Reform: Regulatory Tax Credits” here

 

 

More on this issue

Donate Now

Help all Americans live freer, happier lives. Join the Goldwater Institute as we defend and strengthen freedom in all 50 states.

Donate Now

Since 1988, the Goldwater Institute has been in the liberty business — defending and promoting freedom, and achieving more than 400 victories in all 50 states. Donate today to help support our mission.

We Protect Your Rights

Our attorneys defend individual rights and protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Need Help? Submit a case.
Join our pro-bono attorney network.

Get Connected to Goldwater

Sign up for the latest news, event updates, and more.

Wait! Don’t close this yet!

We are grateful for your support of the Goldwater Institute’s efforts to advance and defend liberty throughout the United States. For over 36 years, we’ve been defending the rights of Americans to live their lives free from government interference.

And Goldwater is unique in that we direct our efforts to the 50 states where we introduce and advance innovative ideas that expand freedom. And we fight in courtrooms and capitals nationwide to defend individual liberty.

In 2024 alone, we scored over 50 policy and litigation victories defending liberty!

And that’s just the beginning.

Our plans for 2025 include:

  • Stopping pernicious DEI and other woke programs in America’s universities.
  • Ensuring that patients suffering from rare and terminal diseases have access to cutting-edge, lifesaving medical treatments, without having to first seek permission from the government.
  • Defending parental rights across the United States so that parents can send their kids to the school that best fits their needs, free from leftist indoctrination.
  • Eliminating government interference in the fundamental right of individuals to own property and use it as they see fit.
  • And much, much more

We seek to restore the presumption of liberty; that people are free to act without first asking permission from the government.

But we cannot do this without you. Will you join us as we fight to preserve and advance liberty throughout the country? As we seek new and innovative ways to defend freedom in all 50 states?

And there’s great news: Thanks to a generous Goldwater supporter, your donation today will be doubled!

So please, join us in fighting to advance liberty and score real wins for freedom from coast to coast!

Donate Now