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 We Know: Reviewing the Academic Literature on Profit Shifting
Lawmakers around the world are considering substantial changes to international tax rules to address tax avoidance. Many changes have already been made in recent years, with early economic evidence indicating that they may not only address tax avoidance but also impact business hiring and investment decisions.


Boost Semiconductor Manufacturing by Removing Tax Barriers—Not Creating Tax Subsidies
A bipartisan group of Senators introduced a bill to create a permanent 25 percent tax credit for investments in semiconductor manufacturing equipment and construction of related facilities—but their proposal would not address underlying bias against investment that exists in the tax code today.


Spain Determined to Cash in on Digital Services Tax
Spain’s digital services tax levies a 3 percent tax on revenues from online ads, deals brokered on digital platforms, and sales of user data by tech companies with at least €750 million (US $893 million) in total annual worldwide revenues and Spanish revenues of €3 million ($3.57 million).


States Continue to Bet on Sports
With many state legislative sessions wrapping up for this year, and a new fiscal year about to begin, it’s a good time to examine some of the 2021 legislative trends—and sports betting taxes are among the more prominent.


Tax Foundation Comment on Treasury’s State Tax Cuts Limitation Rule
The Tax Foundation recently submitted regulatory comment on the U.S. Treasury’s state tax cuts limitation rule, highlighting three areas of concern and suggesting revisions to the rule.


New Research Shows Major Changes for U.S. Companies Earning Profits from Ireland
New data show that the recent policy changes that have been implemented by the U.S., Ireland, and dozens of other countries are having an impact. The question for policymakers is whether they will take the time to understand these impacts before jumping to the next project to change international tax rules yet again.


Tracking the 2021 Biden Tax Plan and Federal Tax Proposals
Taxes are once again at the forefront of the public policy debate as legislators grapple with how to fund new infrastructure spending, among other priorities. Our tax tracker helps you stay up-to-date as new tax plans emerge from the Biden administration and Congress.


Expensing Is Infrastructure, Too
The Biden administration has suggested several tax increases for his infrastructure plan. Public infrastructure can help increase economic growth, but by raising taxes on private investment, the net effect on growth may be negative. However, tax options like retaining expensing for private R&D investment or making 100 percent bonus depreciation for equipment permanent would be complementary to the goals of infrastructure spending.


House and Senate Proposals Would Make Incremental Reforms to Retirement Savings
While falling short of comprehensively reforming the complex U.S. retirement savings system, House and Senate lawmakers have proposed bipartisan bills to help simplify and expand access to retirement savings accounts to more workers.