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.
Will FDII Stay or Will it Go?
While the Biden administration has certainly proposed to remove FDII, it is not clear that Congress is on board with that approach.
5 min readStriking Right Balance for Cryptocurrency Reporting Requirements in Bipartisan Infrastructure Package
While it makes sense to ensure cryptocurrency transactions are treated similarly to other financial assets, the nature of these requirements as written are potentially unworkable.
3 min readThree Reasons Why Full Cost Recovery Is Right Even if Assets Increase in Value
The ideal treatment is to match the tax code to a firm’s cash flow—allow immediate deductions for all expenses, including all forms of investment, while taxing the resulting returns from the investments.
4 min readReturn-Free Filing: A Better Fit for a Better Tax Code
Return-free filing could reduce compliance costs for many taxpayers, but would only be as good as the system it is administrating.
4 min readShould the U.S. Copy Denmark’s Social Welfare Policies?
To fully follow the Scandinavian model would require additional taxes that place a higher burden on middle-income earners, but instead, Biden proposes higher taxes on corporations and households making more than $400,000.
3 min readPennsylvania Considers the Equivalent of a $2 Per Gallon Gas Tax
A vehicle miles traveled (VMT) proposal gaining steam in Pennsylvania would be the equivalent of a state gas tax of more than $2 per gallon, and that’s not all the Commonwealth is considering.
7 min readComparing Three Financing Options for President Biden’s Spending Proposals
While Congress continues to debate how to pay for President Biden’s spending proposals in the fiscal year 2022 budget, it is useful to consider the economic impact of a range of financing options in addition to the President’s proposed tax increases.
3 min readCorporate Tax Revenue Forecasted as Robust following the 2017 Tax Reform
In light of these forecasts, which could be revised upwards further given the pace of growth in the economy and corporate profits, it seems clear that the 2017 tax reform did not substantially reduce the revenue potential of the corporate tax.
3 min readHere’s How Louisiana’s Tax Plan Would Simplify the Tax Code and Benefit Residents
Louisiana legislators passed a tax reform plan that has received overwhelming support in both the House and Senate, but voters will get the ultimate say on whether that plan succeeds. In light of this, it may be valuable to walk through what is included in these reforms and what effect the changes will have on taxpayers.
5 min read