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.
![Cuomo SALT Deduction](https://taxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/cuomo-new-york-ny-crop-300x179.png)
![Virginia local option sales tax](https://taxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/virginia-300x200.jpg)
![BEPS OECD base erosion OECD profit shifting digital economy](https://taxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/flags-4-300x154.jpg)
![global minimum tax comparison international tax proposals about profit shifting Biden international tax Learning from Europe and America’s Shared Gross Receipts Tax Experience , Gross receipts taxes Europe America Gross receipts tax digital tax](https://taxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/global-enhanced-e1550003625741-300x199.jpg)
![Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer Stock Buybacks Propsal](https://taxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/chuck-schumer-e1549467207512-300x228.jpg)
![high tax rate innovation inventors](https://taxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/innovation-invent-entrepreneur-e1549314327880-200x300.jpg)
A High Tax Rate on Star Inventors Lowers Total Innovation
Findings from a new study suggest that while a policy agenda to revive innovation must include an assortment of changes – including greater access to mentorship – tax policy matters too.
2 min read![Tax extenders filing season Chuck Grassley](https://taxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Capitol-LINKEDIN-e1549052839444-300x158.jpg)
![Bernie Sanders Estate Tax Plan, Sanders Estate Tax, Bernie Sanders' estate tax proposal, Bernie Sanders tax proposals, Bernie Sanders' estate tax](https://taxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/linkedin-In-Stream_Wide___1200px-Bernie_Sanders_rally_March_24_2019_San_Francisco-1-11-300x158.jpg)
Sanders’ Estate Tax Plan Won’t Likely Raise the Revenue Intended
While progressivity may look appealing—particularly at a time when policymakers in Congress seem to be competing on how best to extract revenue from the wealthiest in the country—it may not raise the revenue intended.
2 min read![Arkansas Tax Reform, Arkansas Phase 3 Arkansas Individual income tax cuts Phase Three](https://taxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Arkansas-e1548895732799-300x200.jpeg)
![Federal tobacco tax proposal state taxes Build Back Better Act Biden American Families Plan proposal to tax unrealized capital gains at death, taxing unrealized gains death proposal, capital gains at death policies tax refund tax refunds tax cut 2018 tax season tax filing](https://taxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/money-budget-tax-300x169.jpg)