HILL TAX BRIEF: Supreme Court Ruling Sidesteps Wealth Tax Debate

The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the 2017 GOP tax law’s foreign earnings tax gave new hope to progressive Democrats and tax-fairness advocates who back a wealth tax, but that enthusiasm may be short lived.

The court, in the highly anticipated Moore v. United States case, ruled 7-2 against a couple protesting the law’s mandatory repatriation tax and asserted that Congress has the power to tax companies and individuals on their share of undistributed business earnings.

Some conservative advocates had hoped the high court would strike down hypothetical taxes on unrealized income, such as Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden’s (D-Ore.) ...