Evaluating U.S. Tax Reform Options & Trade-Offs

The economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic poses a triple challenge for tax policy in the United States. Lawmakers are tasked with crafting a policy response that will accelerate the economic recovery, reduce the mounting deficit, and protect the most vulnerable.

To assist lawmakers in navigating the challenge, and to help the American public understand the tax changes being proposed, the Tax Foundation’s Center for Federal Tax Policy modeled how 70 potential changes to the tax code would affect the U.S. economy, distribution of the tax burden, and federal revenue.

In tax policy there is an ever-present trade-off among how much revenue a tax will raise, who bears the burden of a tax, and what impact a tax will have on economic growth. Armed with the information in our new book, Options for Reforming America’s Tax Code 2.0, policymakers can debate the relative merits and trade-offs of each option to improve the tax code in a post-pandemic world.

Hungary EU presidency tax reform and tax policies
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Europe

Tax Files under New Council of EU Presidency: Hungary

As Hungary takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the aftermath of the European elections, the relationship between tax policy and Europe’s competitiveness will be closely linked.

6 min read
Full TCJA extension fiscal challenges highlighted by latest CBO projections
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Latest CBO Projections Highlight Fiscal Challenge of Full TCJA Extension

While neither full expiration nor a deficit-financed full extension of the TCJA would be appropriate, lawmakers should consider the incentive effects of whichever tax reform they pursue. Because taxes affect the economy, they also affect the sustainability of debt reduction.

3 min read
Arkansas tax cuts and relief Arkansas tax reform 2024
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Arkansas Enacts Fourth Tax Cut in Less than Two Years

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) recently called a brief special legislative session to enact the fourth round of reductions to the Natural State’s individual and corporate income taxes. Legislators also passed a modest property tax reform proposal.

4 min read
UK full expensing and UK capital allowances tax reform and priorities
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Europe

Understanding Full Expensing in the United Kingdom

Given the positive contribution of full expensing to economic growth and that the UK already incurred the peak-year costs due to the existing policy, it is imperative to maintain it permanently.

5 min read
Moore Supreme Court tax case wealth tax
Blog

Supreme Court Rules against Moores 7-2, Leaves Most Questions Undecided

The government won in Moore. However, given the narrow opinion of the court and the reasoning in the Barrett concurrence and the Thomas dissent, it seems likely that future rulings under other facts and circumstances could favor taxpayers instead.

7 min read
2017 tax reform Tax Cuts and Jobs Act TCJA changed legal business forms like c corporations and pass-through businesses TCJA Pass-Through Business Tax Reform: Details & Analysis
Blog

How the TCJA Affected Legal Business Forms

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) significantly lowered the effective tax rates on business income, but the impact was not the same for C corporations and pass-through businesses.

6 min read
Donald Trump tax proposals regarding replacing the income tax with tariffs, exempting taxes on tips, and corporate income tax cut
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Five Things to Know about Trump’s Tariff and Income Tax Proposals

Former President Trump floated the possibility of entirely replacing the federal income tax with new tariffs. He also raised other ideas like eliminating taxes on tipped income and lowering the corporate tax rate by one percentage point.

8 min read