July 2018 / United States

On 3 July 2018, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a Press Release to announce that, on 29 June 2018, the IMF Executive Board concluded the Article IV consultation with the United States. In connection with the consultation, the IMF published a package of documents that includes the Press Release, a Staff Report, an Informational Annex and a Statement by the Executive Director. The Staff Report states that many of the objectives of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act could be better achieved by:

• replacing lost revenues with increases in indirect taxes;
• targeting personal income tax relief solely to those earning close to or below the median income;
• imposing a higher tax rate on unrepatriated profits;
• reformulating the business tax as a cashflow tax; and
• redesigning the international provisions to impose a minimum tax on low-tax jurisdictions and to avoid giving more favourable treatment to exports than to imports and domestic sales.