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.
Pursuing Delors’ Single Market: What the EU Gets Wrong About Its Economic Power and What It Means for the U.S.
Before EU policymakers rush to implement massive reforms, they should remember the goals of the Single Market, its international limitations, and the role of tax policy.
4 min readGeorgia Should Reinforce Its Tax Reform Intentions
By shifting to a flat income tax, Georgia has already made an important commitment to tax competitiveness. Although the state’s top rate threshold is already very low, a true single-rate income tax will help protect taxpayers from inflation-related tax increases and provide a buffer against rising tax rates in the future. To combine responsible rate reductions with these benefits, Georgia should create tax triggers that empower the state to keep pace with its competition.
3 min readFrustration and Delays as the 2023 Tax Filing Season Begins
A combination of long-standing IRS operational deficiencies, the agency’s temporary closure due to the pandemic, and the now-expired pandemic relief produced a perfect recipe for a paper backlog.
4 min readWealth Tax Proposals Are Back as States Take Aim at Investment
In a coordinated effort, lawmakers in seven states that collectively house about 60 percent of the nation’s wealth—California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Washington—are introducing wealth tax legislation on Thursday.
7 min readThree Reasons Why Dynamic Scoring Still Matters
Lawmakers should use the most comprehensive analytical tools available to them—like dynamic scoring—to make informed decisions about policy changes.
5 min readIn the Shadow of T-TIP: Why Congress Should Care About EU Tax and Trade Issues in 2023
The EU’s unilateral approach with carbon taxes, faster track on the global minimum tax, and threat of renewed efforts on DSTs means that U.S. policymakers face some hard choices. Policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic should keep in mind pro-growth tax and trade principles that promote a rules-based international order and increase opportunity.
7 min readTaxes in Everything: Die Hard Edition
It’s Christmas time, and for millions of families around the country, that means revisiting some classic holiday movies. For some, that includes It’s a Wonderful Life and Home Alone. For others, that includes Die Hard.
3 min readImproved Tax Treatment of Saving Included in Year-End Federal Spending Deal
The year-end omnibus federal spending package makes a number of reforms to retirement savings accounts.
3 min readDigital Services Taxes: Is There an End in Sight?
As it stands, Pillar One would usher in the end of many digital services taxes (though perhaps not all) at the cost of increased complexity (in an already complex and uncertain system).
4 min readWould Americans Make Charitable Donations without Tax Incentives?
Over the long run, tax policies that grow after-tax incomes and the economy do more to boost charitable giving than policies that try to incentivize people to be charitable.
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