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.

Complexity Harms Tobacco Tax Design in Cigarette-Popular Indonesia
Indonesia, the world’s second-largest cigarette market, has a uniquely complex system when it comes to taxing its tobacco consumption, which is almost exclusively cigarettes (98 percent).
4 min read
Despite Slip in International Tax Competitiveness Index, Germany Retains Top G7 Rank
More often than not, by looking at Germany’s tax code as an example, G7 countries can improve the stability of their revenues and the lives of those they represent.
5 min read
Spain’s 2022 Budget Unsurprisingly Comes with More Tax Hikes
While other countries in Europe are working towards introducing tax cuts or delaying the introduction of new taxes to stimulate economic recovery by supporting business investment and employment, Spain is putting more fiscal pressure on businesses.
3 min read
Wrong Tax Base Leads to Multiple Issues for Federal Nicotine Tax Proposal
The nicotine tax proposal in the Build Back Better Act neglects sound excise tax policy design and by doing so risks harming public health. Lawmakers should reconsider this approach to nicotine taxation.
8 min read
Tracking 2021 Election Results: State Tax Ballot Measures
Through 10 ballot measures across four states—Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington—voters will decide significant questions of state tax policy.
7 min read
Austria’s Budget Comes with Tax Cuts and Carbon Levies
Austria should not shy from lowering the corporate income tax rate sooner or even implementing a more ambitious tax reform to improve its tax competitiveness and contribute to greater economic growth.
3 min read
Top Tax Rate on Personal Income Would Be Highest in OECD under New Build Back Better Framework
Under the latest iteration of the House Build Back Better Act (BBBA), the average top tax rate on personal income would reach 57.4 percent, giving the U.S. the highest rate in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
2 min read
Federal Deductibility Is Distorting Tax Liability in Six States
The intentions behind federal deductibility are undoubtedly pro-taxpayer. Unfortunately, that is not what happens in practice. Tax liability is not reduced. It is distorted.
7 min read
Proposed Top Combined Marginal Capital Gains Tax Rate Would Be Third-Highest in OECD
Under the new Build Back Better framework, the United States would tax capital gains at the third-highest top marginal rate among rich nations, averaging nearly 37 percent.
1 min read
Lawmakers Consider Untested and Complex Policies to Fund Reconciliation Bill
Congress is debating new ways to raise revenue that would make the tax code more complex and more difficult to administer. The new proposals—imposing an alternative minimum tax on corporate book income, applying an excise tax on stock buybacks, and, at one point this week, a tax on unrealized capital gains for billionaires—are unreliable and highly complex ways to raise revenue.
10 min read