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.
What Sets the US and China Apart on Tax?
Broad, pro-investment tax policy matters for growth, and the US has plenty of opportunities to make improvements, particularly given the advantages our cross-Pacific rival confers on its firms.
5 min readPlacing Harris and Trump Tax Plans in Historical Context
Trump’s tariff hikes would rank as the the largest tax increase outside of wartime since 1940. Meanwhile, Harris’s tax plan would rank as the 6th largest tax increase outside of wartime since 1940.
5 min readHow 2026 Tax Brackets Would Change if the TCJA Expires
If Congress allows the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) to expire as scheduled, most aspects of the individual income tax would undergo substantial changes, resulting in more than 62 percent of tax filers experiencing tax increases in 2026.
3 min readAmericans Abroad Need Compliance Cost Relief
Trump’s proposal would bring the US more in line with most other developed economies, which tax only those who live and work within their borders.
4 min readWartime Taxes Are Waging War on Sound Policy Choices
Spain’s central government is considering making its windfall taxes on energy companies and the banking sector permanent.
6 min readAnother Huge Federal Deficit in Fiscal Year 2024 Despite Surging Corporate and Other Tax Collections
While federal tax collections—especially corporate taxes—have reached historically high levels, these gains have not kept pace with escalating spending, particularly on debt interest, leading to a substantial and concerning budget deficit in FY24.
6 min readWhat Does Moving Toward a More Competitive EU Tax System Mean?
As the geopolitical scene continues to change, policymakers in Europe should focus on lowering effective marginal tax rates to drive much-needed investment and long-term economic growth.
6 min readBrazil Proposes Major Overhaul of Its Alcohol Tax System
The Brazilian government is poised to make the biggest change to its alcohol tax policy in recent history.
6 min readOregon Measure 118 Is an $8 Billion Tax Increase That Raids $2 Billion from the State Budget
Due to the peculiar design of the proposed tax increase, it’s true: the largest tax increase Oregon has ever seen would create a substantial budget shortfall.
8 min readSouth Dakota’s Initiated Measure 28 Undermines Sales Tax Rate Reductions
Especially for a state that relies so heavily on the sales tax as a source of revenue—and where most people want to keep it that way—a broad base and a low rate is crucial.
5 min read