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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.

 

US Bonus Depreciation: US Tax Policy OECD Countries Should Copy

One US Tax Policy OECD Countries Should Copy

Rather than adopt temporary policies that phase out and expire, policymakers should focus their efforts on long-term reforms to support investment.

7 min read
OBBBA business expensing state tax codes 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Business Expensing State Tax Conformity Questions

The OBBBA Gets Expensing Right. States Should Follow Suit.

However states choose to respond to other tax provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they should conform to the pro-growth provisions, which represent a marked improvement in the corporate tax code.

12 min read
EU budget taxes european union budget proposal, corporate resource for europe, core 2025

The EU Budget’s CORE Is Rotten

The European Commission proposed new budget options for 2028 to 2034. It is worth zooming in on one new proposal for revenues that would support EU-level spending. The “Corporate Resource for Europe,” or CORE, provides a good opportunity to think through how best to raise revenue for the EU budget.

5 min read
The Big Beautiful Bill Act's Trump Accounts for newborns are structured similarly to Roth IRAs but with restrictions. Trump accounts vs 529

‘Trump Accounts’ Could Be Better. Here’s How.

If the federal government really wanted to make saving more accessible for taxpayers, it would swap the proposal for Trump Accounts to replace the complicated mess of savings accounts currently available with universal savings accounts.

5 min read
Fiscal Forum: Future of EU Tax Mix with Dr. Michele Chang

Fiscal Forum: Future of the EU Tax Mix with Dr. Michele Chang

Sean Bray interviews Dr. Michele Chang, Director of the Masters in Transatlantic Affairs and Professor of European Political Governance at the College of Europe, about the future of the EU tax mix.

12 min read
One Big Beautiful Bill Pros Cons

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes many of the individual tax cuts and reforms of the TCJA permanent. It improves upon the TCJA by making expensing for R&D and equipment permanent. However, for the most part, it does not include further structural reforms, and instead introduces many new, narrow tax breaks to the code, adding complexity and raising revenue costs.

7 min read
State Implications of the GILTI to NCTI Conversion The One, Big, Beautiful Bill’s (OBBB) changes to the taxation of international income

State Implications of the GILTI to NCTI Conversion

The One Big Beautiful Bill’s changes to the taxation of international income have surprising implications for state codes, yielding tax increases and a revised tax base that, through quirks of state incorporation, bears very little resemblance to the federal base and almost nothing of its purpose.

10 min read