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.


Movers and Shakers in the International Tax Competitiveness Index
The 2023 version of the International Tax Competitiveness Index is the 10th edition of the report. Let’s take a look back and see how country ranks have changed over time.
5 min read

Jeff Bezos’s Move Undercuts Proposed Washington State Wealth Tax
Whether tax savings motivated his move or not, the implications for Washington are very real, and serve to illustrate just how dangerous it can be to design tax systems that rely so overwhelmingly on a very small number of taxpayers choosing to stay put.
3 min read

New Study Finds TCJA Strongly Boosted Corporate Investment
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was the largest corporate tax reform in a generation, lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, temporarily allowing full expensing for short-lived assets (referred to as bonus depreciation), and overhauling the international tax code.
6 min read



The Short Form: Do People Really Move Because of Taxes?
What do The Rolling Stones, NFL star Tyreek Hill, and Maryland millionaires have in common? They all moved because of taxes.
4 min read

Californians Still Smoking Menthol after Ban: Evidence from a Discarded Pack Audit
It’s been almost a year since California banned the sale of all flavored tobacco products, and the big question is: did it work?
4 min read

Changing Tax Policy Landscape Will Worsen U.S. Competitiveness
Policymakers on Capitol Hill should prioritize permanent pro-growth policy in the coming years as the economy struggles with inflation and the recovery from the pandemic.
4 min read

IRS Report Shows Closing the Tax Gap Would Not Close the Deficit
The latest tax gap report from the IRS has generated much media attention—and much misunderstanding.
6 min read

European Tax Policy Scorecard: Capital Cost Recovery under BEFIT versus Current Member State Policies
A harmonized EU tax base is a project in the making. Policymakers have a chance to put the Union on a path for increased investment and economic growth by focusing on the details of capital cost recovery.
7 min read



Pennsylvania Cigarette Minimum Markups Will Cost the State $47 Million per Year
Minimum markup policies tend to be wildly unpopular among both taxpayers and policymakers. Lawmakers should carefully evaluate whether minimum markup laws are policies that improve the well-being of their constituents.
3 min read