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.
Who Gets a Tax Cut Under the Amended Senate Tax Cuts and Jobs Act?
Here’s how the individual income tax provisions of the amended Senate’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would impact individuals and families across the income spectrum.
5 min readNCSL May Revisit Stance Fighting State & Local Tax Deduction Repeal
The National Conference of State Legislatures may revisit a decision to reject tax reform that repeals the state and local tax deduction.
2 min readFederal Tax Reform Might Push New Jersey to Reform Tax System
New Jersey has the worst state business tax climate of the 50 states and the third highest state and local tax burden. If federal tax reform prompts New Jersey to overhaul its tax code, it’s long overdue.
3 min readAre Pass-Through Businesses Treated Fairly Under the Senate Version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act?
A more careful look shows that the Senate Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doesn’t put pass-through businesses at a disadvantage compared to C corporations.
4 min readUnderstanding JCT’s New Distributional Tables for the Senate’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
Much attention is being paid to distributional tables released by JCT on the Senate’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but their results don’t quite seem to show what some are suggesting. While the results appears to show a tax increase for some lower-income filers, this is due to the unique nature of the individual mandate and the premium tax credits available under the Affordable Care Act.
2 min readThe House Takes a Big Step Forward on Tax Reform
The House of Representatives passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by a vote of 227-205. Here is a summary of the major provisions in the final package.
2 min readThe Economics of Permanent Corporate Rate Cuts Must Outweigh the Optics of Sunsetting Individual Tax Cuts
The Senate Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is right to make the most pro-growth policies permanent and sunset the ones that will do less economic harm.
6 min readOverview of the Senate’s Amendment to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
The Chairman’s Mark of the Senate’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes a number of important changes. Here’s a quick overview of those that matter most.
3 min read