All Democratic presidential candidates want to address climate change, but none of the three leading hopefuls back a carbon tax. TPC’s Thornton Matheson reviews the 2020 presidential candidates’ climate- related tax proposals. Among Democrats, only New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and tech executive Andrew Yang have proposed carbon taxes. So has Republican former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld. President Trump says climate change is a hoax. 

USTR will rule today on France’s digital tax. The United States Trade Representative says it will rule today on whether France’s Digital Services Tax unfairly targets US firms such as Google and Amazon. If USTR rules that it does, the Trump Administration could respond with new tariffs against France. Separately, the US and France have been trying to negotiate a way to settle the dispute.   

A former Walmart executive says the firm underpaid US taxes by about $200 million. A whistleblower told the IRS that Walmart improperly claimed foreign tax credits in 2009 and 2010 by routing payments from Luxembourg to the US through the United Kingdom. Walmart denies any wrongdoing. 

A Chicago suburb plans to fund reparations with marijuana sales tax revenue. Evanston aldermen approved a measure to direct all recreational marijuana sales tax revenues to a local reparations program that would benefit African-American residents. A separate residents’ committee is deciding how to spend as much as $10 million in revenue. The program could provide job training, housing, or other benefits. Proponents argue that the program will encourage the city’s black population to stay in Evanston and address lingering institutional effects of slavery and discrimination. 

Pennsylvania lawmakers to review plans to cut or eliminate school property taxes. They have concluded a months-long study of the topic and now will review a short list of options for shifting the burden of financing a large share of school districts’ operating costs from property taxes to other taxes. 

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