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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

6207 Results
After the Super-Deduction Assessing Proposals for the Reform of Capital Allowances

Leveling Up: The UK’s Super-Deduction and its Regional Divide

As part of the 2021 Budget, the UK introduced a 130 percent super-deduction for plant and equipment for the next two years, meaning that businesses can take a deduction amounting to 130 percent of the costs in the year the investment is made.

4 min read
Portland small business tax rates under Biden tax plan Oregon gross receipts tax legislation Oregon gross receipts tax amendment Oregon education bill

Portland Small Business Owners Facing Weirdly High New Taxes—and It Could Get Worse

Newly implemented county and regional taxes yield state and local top marginal tax rates in excess of 26 percent for many Portland small businesses, and if all of President Biden’s tax proposals were adopted, those owners could face all-in marginal rates of more than 80 percent, far and away the highest in the country going back decades.

5 min read
intellectual property IP tax GILTI FDII global minimum tax Biden tax patent boxes impact business, patent boxes, software, intellectual property tax

The Balancing Act of GILTI and FDII

The tax treatment of intangible assets has come into the spotlight recently with the Biden administration proposing to undo a policy adopted in 2017 to encourage intellectual property (IP) to be located in the U.S.

6 min read
U.S. Effective Corporate Tax Rate Is Right in Line With Its OECD Peers President Biden infrastructure plan Biden corporate tax proposals

U.S. Effective Corporate Tax Rate Is Right in Line With Its OECD Peers

Whether we use corporate tax collections as a portion of GDP, average effective tax rates, or marginal tax rates, each measure shows that the U.S. effective corporate tax burden is close to or above the average compared to its OECD peers. Raising corporate income taxes would put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage, whether one looks at statutory tax rates or effective corporate tax rates.

4 min read
American Rescue Plan local aid allocation Tax Foundation, american rescue plan local government funding

ARPA Allocates $2 Billion to Nonexistent County Governments

The government of Hartford County, Connecticut is in line to receive $173 million in local aid under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). There’s only one problem: the government of Hartford County doesn’t exist, nor do any of Connecticut’s other counties have county-level government despite being allocated a collective $691 million under the bill.

4 min read
Bernie Sanders CEO Pay Act, Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act, Bernie Sanders CEO tax Work Opportunity Tax Credit WOTC, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin

A CEO Tax Is the Wrong Way to Help Workers

In an effort to rein in perceived excesses in executive compensation, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and other co-sponsors have proposed to increase a company’s corporate income tax rate progressively based on the difference between median worker pay and CEO pay.

4 min read
West Virginia Income Tax Repeal Plans Gov. Jim Justice

Evaluating West Virginia Income Tax Repeal Plans

States which forgo income taxes have seen population and economic growth vastly outstripping their peers, and a post-pandemic culture that is friendlier to remote work will greatly enhance tax competition.

71 min read
unemployment compensation taxable income unemployment compensation as taxable income american rescue plan act's exclusion A person filling out tax papers, tax treatment of the working class

A Neutral Tax Code Counts Unemployment Compensation as Taxable Income

Since 1987, unemployment compensation benefits have been subject to federal income tax and, in most states, to state income tax. According to the Congressional Research Service, such treatment—including unemployment compensation benefits in taxable income—is common across industrial nations.

4 min read
EU business tax reform, European Union business tax reform, European Commission EU business taxation framework

The EU Determined to Reform the Business Tax

The EU recently launched a consultation to reform the business tax system, which will outline the priorities for corporate taxation over the coming years to meet the needs of a globalized economy that struggles to recover from the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. It will also set EU actions regarding the ongoing international discussion on the taxation of the digital economy and a global minimum tax.

3 min read