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Tax Policy Blog

Stay informed with quick and accessible analysis of today's top tax policy topics. Read Tax Foundation's Tax Policy Blog for insight from our experts on tax policies across the U.S. and abroad.

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Blog Articles

6168 Results
EU tobacco tax directive EU cigarette tax rates 2021 VAT EU reforms

A 15 Percent VAT Rate Is Possible by Scrapping Reduced Rates

A VAT tax reform that eliminates VAT reduced rates would decrease compliance costs and allow for a more rapid economic recovery. Policymakers should focus on simplifying VAT rules and making them more efficient and neutral by broadening their tax bases and eliminating reduced rates and unnecessary tax exemptions.

4 min read
House tobacco proposal Bidens tax pledge House Democrats' tobacco tax increased taxes on vaping, increased taxes on smoking, tax on vaping, tax on smoking, merkley, romney, e-cigarette taxes

House Tobacco Proposals Defy Biden’s Tax Pledge and Undermine Harm Reduction Efforts

House Democrats’ newly released $3.5 trillion tax legislation includes a tax increase on tobacco, nicotine, and vapor products levied on tobacco manufacturers. But ultimately it would fall heavily on tobacco consumers—many of the group that earns less than $400,000 that President Biden pledged would not see a tax increase.

6 min read
Church taxes, tax churches, what if we taxed churches? #Taxthechurches, tax treatment of churches in the US. If taxes paid taxes, taxing churches

What If We Taxed Churches?

Whether spurred by a belief that government is improperly favoring religious institutions, an antipathy to wealthy celebrity pastors, or a hope that taxing houses of worship could bring down personal tax bills, the taxation of religious bodies is hotly debated online, but barely on the radar of actual elected officials. But is that true? How much, if any, tax revenue is forgone, and what do the policies look like? 

7 min read
Infrastructure bill taxes inflation pressure on inflation returns to work incentives

Tax Reform and Infrastructure Investment: The Two Theories

The Biden administration does have a point about how some components of the infrastructure bill could put downward pressure on inflation in the long term. However, the taxes chosen to pay for those investments would counteract those effects, by reducing investment and productivity growth.

4 min read
Maryland digital advertising tax litigation Maryland internet freedom actregulations Maryland digital advertisement tax, Maryland digital tax, Maryland digital advertising tax

Three Issues with Proposed Regulations for Maryland’s Digital Advertising Tax

Earlier this year, Maryland legislators overrode Governor Larry Hogan’s (R) veto of HB732, approving a digital advertising tax, the first of its kind in the country. But legislators punted several crucial questions to the state comptroller, who last week submitted proposed regulations for the digital advertising tax to the state Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review.

9 min read
Learn more about the HR 3 prescription drug bill (the Elijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act) and how it could reduce R&D spending and medical innovation. See more on pharmaceutical company revenues, emerging biopharma companies, and HR3 bill text.

H.R. 3 Would Reduce R&D Spending and Medical Innovation

Lawmakers are considering policy changes within the reconciliation bill that would reduce private R&D within the pharmaceutical industry and reduce the number of new drugs coming to market. Instead of hampering medical progress, policymakers should work to ensure that the tax code remains conducive to R&D spending and the resulting innovation.

5 min read
Wyden tax proposals reconciliation Wyden tax reconciliation

Reviewing Wyden’s Reconciliation Tax Policy Proposals

Congressional lawmakers are putting together a reconciliation bill to enact much of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. Many lawmakers including Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR), however, want to make their own mark on the legislation.

5 min read
Wyden mark-to-market tax proposal. Explore Wyden financial services tax proposals, including Wyden carried interest tax, Wyden derivatives tax, and Wyden hedge funds and private equity tax

Wyden’s Financial Services Tax Proposals Would Put “Mark-to-Market” to the Test

Mark-to-market is not simple to implement, as it involves new administrative and compliance challenges for taxpayers. Mark-to-market levies tax on phantom income, requiring some taxpayers to engage in some degree of liquidation, ultimately suppressing incentives to save and invest. The limited tax revenues that could result from these proposals are not worth the risk.

5 min read
2022 state tax changes effective January 1, 2022 child tax credit changes and child tax credit reform options 2021 state tax changes July 1 2021 US business tax collections remained close to historical norm in 2018. US business tax revenue and taxes paid by pass-through firms

Temporary Policies Complicate the Child Tax Credit’s Future

Over the next ten years, the structure of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) is scheduled to change, complicating efforts to extend enhanced CTC benefits or reform the CTC for the long-term. Rather than take an all-or-nothing approach or kick the can down the road by relying on temporary expansions, lawmakers could consider alternative options that better target low-income households, retain work incentives, reduce the impact on federal revenue, and provide taxpayers with a stable, consistent tax code.

8 min read
Section 250 deduction GILTI loss business profits and future tax liability business losses foreign tax credits

GILTI of Neglecting Losses

As lawmakers are reviewing international tax rules and determining what to change and update, they should pay attention to the way GILTI interacts with profitable and loss-making companies.

5 min read
emergency savings accounts retirement savings accounts Build Back Better plan inflation Build Back Better plan deficit carbon tax reconciliation hr3 tax prescription drugs tax help pay for reconciliation, revenue for federal government retirement savings federal reform proposals SECURE Act Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021

Lawmakers’ Tax Rate to Help Pay for Reconciliation is 1,900 Percent

While the excise tax penalty in H.R. 3 is referred to as a 95 percent tax rate, it actually amounts to a 1,900 percent tax rate because of how the proposal defines the tax base. In other words, under the H.R. 3 tax penalty, a drug that sells for $100 would incur a $1,900 tax.

3 min read
Wyden affordable housing plan Wyden housing tax plan to solve housing crisis DASH Act biden affordable housing taxes, sales price of houses, supply of affordable housing, private mortgage insurance, Biden tax plan housing supply

The DASH Act Isn’t the Best Way to Solve the Housing Crisis

To tackle problems of homelessness and housing costs, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has released a major tax proposal, the Decent Affordable Safe Housing (DASH) For All Act. Several of Wyden’s proposals are also components of the Biden administration’s infrastructure agenda, with a large focus on tax credits designed to either incentivize new housing or directly reduce rent burdens.

5 min read
2022 tax filing season IRS backlog federal deductibility Biden increase tax compliance costs and tax enforcement tax gap discussion IRS commissioner

5 Things to Consider in the Tax Gap Discussion

Increasing tax compliance is a major part of the Biden administration proposal to raise revenue for physical and social infrastructure. Reducing the tax gap—the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid—is a good way to raise revenue, but it doesn’t come without trade-offs, and it’s important to go about it in the right way.

3 min read