President Biden Outlines Vision for Higher, More Complicated Taxes in State of the Union Address and FY 2025 Budget
President Biden’s FY 2025 budget amounts to a gross tax hike exceeding $5.1 trillion over 10 years.
11 min readDr. William McBride is the Vice President of Federal Tax Policy & Stephen J. Entin Fellow in Economics at the Tax Foundation, where he leads our efforts to research, model, and reform the U.S. tax code.
Dr. McBride has more than ten years of experience analyzing a variety of economic and policy issues. Prior to his current role at the Tax Foundation, he served as a manager in the National Economic and Statistics (NES) group at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he worked on numerous projects, including economic impact analyses, industry surveys, U.S. federal and state tax revenue estimates, and general quantitative analyses. He also has experience researching and modeling the economics of taxation and issues related to tax reform at the state, federal, and international levels.
Dr. McBride is no stranger to the Tax Foundation. From 2011 to 2015 he served as chief economist, where he wrote extensively on the economics of taxation, particularly regarding business investment, and guided the development of the Tax Foundation dynamic scoring model.
Dr. McBride holds a PhD in economics from George Mason University, where he specialized in macroeconomics and agent-based modeling. His research has been cited by policymakers, quoted by major media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and published in scholarly journals, such as the National Tax Journal and Tax Notes.
President Biden’s FY 2025 budget amounts to a gross tax hike exceeding $5.1 trillion over 10 years.
11 min readThe CBO projects deficits will be higher than historical levels, largely due to growth in mandatory spending programs While some recent legislation has reduced the deficit, the Inflation Reduction Act is proving to be more expensive than originally promised.
5 min readFor most Americans, saving is a taxing experience. Our neighbors to the north have found a better solution—and U.S. lawmakers should take note.
5 min readThe House Ways and Means Committee has advanced a tax deal to the House floor that would temporarily—and retroactively—restore two major business deductions for cost recovery and expand the child tax credit through 2025.
10 min readIn Congress, both parties have expressed widespread support for improving the treatment of R&D and potentially extending some or all of the major business provisions, while the White House and congressional Democrats have indicated interest in an expanded child tax credit, suggesting potential for a deal.
6 min readThe uncertain future of American finances in a time of potential economic instability points to the need for tax reforms that encourage individuals to save and build financial security in a relatively simple way, such as through universal savings accounts.
5 min readLawmakers should simplify the tax code so that taxpayers can understand the laws and the IRS can administer them with minimum cost and frustration.
36 min readLawmakers will have to weigh the economic, revenue, and distributional trade-offs of extending or making permanent the various provisions of the TCJA as they decide how to approach the upcoming expirations. A commitment to growth, opportunity, and fiscal responsibility should guide the approach.
18 min readThe 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was the largest corporate tax reform in a generation, lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, temporarily allowing full expensing for short-lived assets (referred to as bonus depreciation), and overhauling the international tax code.
6 min readOutside of the pandemic years, this year’s federal deficit is the highest in U.S. history. While tax revenue has increased about 28 percent since the pre-pandemic year 2019, spending has increased about 46 percent. Annual deficits are headed towards $3 trillion over the next few years.
3 min readAt the most recent Republican primary debate, former governor and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley (R-SC) proposed eliminating the federal gas tax to lower fuel prices for consumers.
3 min readOne prominent feature of President Biden’s agenda on the environment is to target U.S. fossil fuel producers and production with nearly $97 billion in tax increases over the next decade.
16 min readAs Congress continues its work on the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process and associated tax provisions, it should consider an often-overlooked tax provision: the limitation on deductions companies take for interest payments.
7 min readNow is the time for lawmakers to focus on long-term fiscal sustainability, as further delay will only make an eventual fiscal reckoning that much harder and more painful. Congressional leaders should follow through on convening a fiscal commission to deal with the long-term budgetary challenges facing the country.
35 min readA major case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court (Moore v. United States) is calling into question provisions on large portions of the U.S. tax base which could quickly become legally uncertain, putting significant revenue at stake.
7 min readCongress should reconsider key elements of the IRA, including the book minimum tax and the green energy credits, with an eye towards simplification and fiscal responsibility.
46 min readStarting on September 1st, federal student loan payments will resume after a three-and-a-half-year pause on payments and accrued interest following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
6 min readThe federal tax code remains a major source of frustration and controversy for Americans, and a hindrance to economic growth and opportunity. Other countries, such as Estonia, have proven that sufficient tax revenue can be collected in a less frustrating and more efficient way.
42 min readLawmakers should focus on simplifying the federal tax code, creating stability, and broadly improving economic incentives. There are incremental steps that can be made on the path to fundamental tax reform.
26 min readThe price tag of the Inflation Reduction Act’s green energy tax credits is much higher than originally thought. Among other things, the updated analysis indicates the Inflation Reduction Act does not reduce deficits after all.
6 min read