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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.

Nonprofits are Financially Healthy and Doing Big Business Nonprofit Hospitals and Universities Untaxed Income

Nonprofits are Financially Healthy and Doing Big Business

Can an organization rightfully be called a “nonprofit” if it almost always makes money? And what if most of that organization’s income comes from “business income,” should it legitimately be considered a “charity”?

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Details and analysis of European Tax Trends and European Tax Reforms

Tax Trends in European Countries

In recent years, European countries have undertaken a series of tax reforms designed to maintain tax revenue levels while protecting households and businesses from high inflation.

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BEFIT: One-Stop-Shop or One-More-Stop?

On 12 September, the European Commission released a proposal called “Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation” (BEFIT) and two associated proposals on transfer pricing and a Head of Office tax system.

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States Enact Semiconductor Subsidies in the Wake of CHIPS

Policymakers at all levels of government should avoid the pitfalls of incentives. Instead, they should focus on creating a more efficient, neutral, and structurally sound tax code to the benefit of all types of business investment.

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US Pillar Two responses should include a policy response from Congress on the OECD global tax deal's global minimum tax

How the U.S. Can Piece Together a Solution for Pillar Two

Congress should recognize that Pillar Two has significant U.S.-specific downsides, but also that it cannot unilaterally stop Pillar Two from taking effect. Instead, it should carefully consider a policy response for the next Congress, when a variety of forces are likely to compel it to act.

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