If you are like most Americans, you may be finding it hard to figure out where the Presidential candidates stand on taxes. Who will raise them? Who will lower them? Who will propose new taxes o tax cuts?

The Tax Policy Center of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution may have the answers you're looking for. They are keeping close tabs on the tax plans of Presidential hopefuls. Click here to see a spreadsheet of the tax proposals from leading and lagging candidates.

By Joseph Henchman of The Tax Foundation

Some 7,400 jurisdictions in the United States impose a sales tax, and most if not all of those taxes carve out exemptions and exceptions for politically-favored products. Keeping track of what's taxed and what's not in 7,400+ tax codes is a tough job, and if you mess up, you face fines and lawsuits.

For instance, the following items are among those exempt from Pennsylvania's sales tax: wrapping paper, toothbrushes, coal, coffins, horses (but only if shipped out-of-state or used for commercial racing), three kinds of trout (out of twenty), gum, tourist promotional materials, and toilet paper.

Yes, toilet paper—as the K-Mart in Monroeville, Pennsylvania recently learned. Local resident Mary Bach has filed a lawsuit demanding $100 in damages...

An article by Lorne Gunter in Canada's National Post on Monday reiterates what we already know: a higher corporate tax rate will lead to decreased investment and productivity and cause capital outflow as companies move their operations to countries with lower taxes. Gunter had this to say:

While the U.K. is committed to reducing its corporate tax rate this year to 28% -- what [the C.D. Howe Institute] calls the "tax-revenue-maximizing rate" -- "most of the world's major economies rely on corporate rates in excess of 30%."

The irony is that as corporate taxes rise above 28%, tax revenues actually decline. Large companies move their operations to low-tax countries, taking their income and jobs with them. Meanwhile, smaller corporations reduce their investment, which...