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.

Louisiana Aims at Comprehensive Tax Reform
While many of the tax proposals work in tandem, some conflicts continue to exist. If lawmakers were able to repeal federal deductibility, reduce income tax rates, finish the job on inventory taxation, and phase out the capital stock tax, this would represent a marked improvement in the state’s tax climate, eliminating several of the most uncompetitive features of the current code.
6 min read
Providing Full Cost Recovery for Investment and Lowering Taxes on Firms Are Best Options for Boosting Growth
As policymakers consider tax options to boost the U.S. economy’s long-run economic growth, they should consider reforms that would increase growth the most while minimizing forgone tax revenue.
4 min read
Biden’s Proposed Capital Gains Tax Rate Would be Highest for Many in a Century
The Biden administration is proposing to tax long-term capital gains at ordinary income rates for high earners, which will bring the top federal rate to highs not seen since the 1920s.
2 min read
Excluding GILTI and Reducing the Corporate Tax Rate Would Improve Nebraska’s Economic Competitiveness
Excluding Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI) from taxation and reducing the state’s top marginal corporate rate would improve the state’s economic competitiveness and are among the top income tax modernization priorities Nebraska policymakers ought to consider.
4 min read
Top Combined Capital Gains Tax Rates Would Average 48 Percent Under Biden’s Tax Plan
The top federal rate on capital gains would be 43.4 percent under Biden’s tax plan (when including the net investment income tax). Rates would be even higher in many U.S. states due to state and local capital gains taxes, leading to a combined average rate of over 48 percent compared to about 29 percent under current law.
3 min read
Comparing the Trade-offs of Carbon Taxes and Corporate Income Taxes
President Biden’s choice to fund new spending programs with increased corporate taxes comes with trade-offs for American output and incomes.
3 min read
Raising the Corporate Rate to 28 Percent Reduces GDP by $720 Billion Over Ten Years
The Options guide presents the economic effects we estimate would occur in the long term, or 20 to 30 years from now, but we can also use our model to show the cumulative effects of the policy change—providing more context, for instance, about how the effects of a higher corporate income tax rate compound over time, which we estimate would reduce GDP by a cumulative $720 billion over the next 10 years.
4 min read

More Tax Hikes Than Investment Projects?
Tax hikes implemented in the near term might undermine Spain’s economic recovery. Spain should focus on implementing tax reforms that have the potential to stimulate economic recovery by supporting private investment and employment while increasing its internal and international tax competitiveness.
5 min read
New Research Finds Limited Effects on Taxpayer Behavior from Pass-through Deduction
While proponents of the Section 199A pass-through deduction claimed it would boost investment and critics claimed it would encourage tax avoidance and income shifting, new research casts doubt on both claims.
3 min read