In a world flattened by the internet, the traditional powers of nation-states are being disrupted, including where it hurts most: the ability to raise taxes. Let's see how the conditions that made them powerful and wealthy in the 19th and 20th centuries are crumbling

Between the 1950s and today, the ability of countries to tax the rich has changed radically. Thanks to technological advances, high earners are more mobile and can easily escape high tax rates by moving, forcing states to reduce their highest income tax bracket

Corporate tax rates worldwide have plummeted from 40% in 1980 to just over 23% in 2021, because companies can increasingly locate in low-tax countries, leading to fierce tax competition

What's more, electronic money exchanges make it very easy for capital to cross borders, allowing paper profits to be placed in welcoming jurisdictions that will tax it little or not at all. States have been trying to combat these "paper" transfers, notably since the 2010s , with little result so far

While income and corporate taxes decrease, social security contribution, labor taxes and VAT rates are climbing, heavily impacting those who stay in their home countries. It's a silent burden on the less mobile middle class.

We're witnessing a historic shift: from immobile societies reliant on physical presence to digital, agile, and mobile economies, upending how nations finance themselves, just as they're getting an aging population whose social and health care costs are soon to skyrocket

"The growing difficulty of governments to raise taxes is more than just a matter of numbers: it's due to the profound disruption they are experiencing in the Internet age of globalization. Want to dive more into this topic ? Read the full article here: https://disruptive-horizons.com/p/the-worst-moment-taxing-times