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.
Senate Receives Final Version of House Coronavirus Bill Offering Paid Leave
The House bill would provide two weeks of paid sick leave to workers who must quarantine, take care of a family member who is sick with coronavirus, or care for their children whose school or daycare has closed due to the public health emergency.
2 min readTax Options for Economic Relief During the Coronavirus Crisis
Instead of simply reaching for fiscal stimulus with the goal of increasing economic activity, tax policy changes can give vulnerable individuals and businesses additional liquidity and space to survive the reduction in economic activity needed in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
5 min readTaxes and Liquidity During an Economic Crisis
Taxes present one policy tool available to ease the impending liquidity crunch brought on by the coronavirus crisis, which policymakers are already pursuing by postponing the tax payment deadline and waiving interest and penalties.
3 min readSummary of the OECD’s Impact Assessment on Pillar 1 and Pillar 2
The OECD presented its preliminary impact assessment on the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 proposals. The impact assessment includes estimated revenue and investment effects presented at a country group level (low-, middle- and high-income countries and investment hubs). The OECD estimates global corporate income tax revenues to increase by 4 percent if both pillars get implemented, equaling $100 billion annually.
4 min readIncome Taxes Are More Volatile Than Sales Taxes During an Economic Contraction
In the short term, states must anticipate reduced tax collections as the economy slows. And here, not all taxes are created equal. As a general rule, income taxes are more volatile than consumption taxes.
4 min readHouse of Representatives Bill Would Expand Paid Sick, Family, and Medical Leave to Address the Coronavirus Crisis
The bill, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, would expand federal medical leave, create an emergency paid sick leave requirement, and provide tax credits against employer-side payroll taxes to help offset the cost of these two programs, among other provisions.
3 min read