Tax Foundation Economists Mourn the Loss of Our Mentor in Tax Policy: Gary Robbins
On behalf of the entire Tax Foundation family, we want to thank Gary Robbins for his five decades of bucking the conventional wisdom and saying, “why not?”
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Blog Articles
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Harris’s America Forward Plan Should Cover Whole Economy, Not Just Favored Industries
Investment matters across the economy, and policymaking should reflect that.
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Blog
Short FormTaxes in the Internet Age
Today marks 55 years since two students sent the first message across the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) between computers at four universities, which would later become the internet we enjoy today.
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What Sets the US and China Apart on Tax?
Broad, pro-investment tax policy matters for growth, and the US has plenty of opportunities to make improvements, particularly given the advantages our cross-Pacific rival confers on its firms.
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Placing Harris and Trump Tax Plans in Historical Context
Trump’s tariff hikes would rank as the the largest tax increase outside of wartime since 1940. Meanwhile, Harris’s tax plan would rank as the 6th largest tax increase outside of wartime since 1940.
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How 2026 Tax Brackets Would Change if the TCJA Expires
If Congress allows the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) to expire as scheduled, most aspects of the individual income tax would undergo substantial changes, resulting in more than 62 percent of tax filers experiencing tax increases in 2026.
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Americans Abroad Need Compliance Cost Relief
Trump’s proposal would bring the US more in line with most other developed economies, which tax only those who live and work within their borders.
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Wartime Taxes Are Waging War on Sound Policy Choices
Spain’s central government is considering making its windfall taxes on energy companies and the banking sector permanent.
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Another Huge Federal Deficit in Fiscal Year 2024 Despite Surging Corporate and Other Tax Collections
While federal tax collections—especially corporate taxes—have reached historically high levels, these gains have not kept pace with escalating spending, particularly on debt interest, leading to a substantial and concerning budget deficit in FY24.
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What Does Moving Toward a More Competitive EU Tax System Mean?
As the geopolitical scene continues to change, policymakers in Europe should focus on lowering effective marginal tax rates to drive much-needed investment and long-term economic growth.
6 min read
Brazil Proposes Major Overhaul of Its Alcohol Tax System
The Brazilian government is poised to make the biggest change to its alcohol tax policy in recent history.
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Oregon Measure 118 Is an $8 Billion Tax Increase That Raids $2 Billion from the State Budget
Due to the peculiar design of the proposed tax increase, it’s true: the largest tax increase Oregon has ever seen would create a substantial budget shortfall.
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South Dakota’s Initiated Measure 28 Undermines Sales Tax Rate Reductions
Especially for a state that relies so heavily on the sales tax as a source of revenue—and where most people want to keep it that way—a broad base and a low rate is crucial.
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The French Budget: Moving from Public Debate to Principled Solutions
Focusing on competitiveness, neutrality, and efficient policies to raise revenue would go a long way in increasing economic growth and stabilizing public finances over the long term.
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Georgia Amendment 1 Threatens the State’s Housing Market
Georgia should focus on policies that restrict the overall growth of property taxes, not policies that functionally freeze property taxes for current owners by shifting costs onto new owners and into the sales tax.
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Taxpayers Shoulder a Heavy Burden for Sports Stadium Subsidies
Sports stadium subsidies are salient political gimmicks designed to appear as if politicians are providing tangible benefits to taxpayers. The empirical evidence shows repeatedly that stadium subsidies fail to generate new tax revenue and new jobs or attract new businesses.
6 min read
Combined Corporate Rates Would Exceed 30 Percent in Most States Under Harris’s Tax Plan
Raising the combined US corporate rate to the second highest in the OECD would encourage corporations to depart from the US, reducing economic output and worker wages across the income spectrum.
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Trump’s Tariff Proposals Would Raise Tariff Rates to Great Depression-Era Levels
Using tariff policy to reallocate investment and jobs is a costly mistake—that’s a history lesson we should not forget.
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What Are the Tax Consequences of Rescheduling Marijuana?
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it would move to reschedule marijuana. This move doesn’t do as much for legal cannabis sales as proposed federal legislation like the States 2.0 Act, but rescheduling cannabis has major ramifications for cannabis businesses.
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Why the Economic Effects of Taxes (Including Tariffs) Matter
Estimating the economic effects of different types of taxes informs policymakers about the trade-offs of raising revenue in a given way.
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