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.
HEROES Act First Bid to Provide Phase 4 Relief for Businesses and Individuals
The HEROES Act, the $3 trillion relief package proposed by House Democrats, is the first bid to provide additional phase 4 aid for businesses and individuals amid the coronavirus pandemic.
7 min readAccounting for Deficits: When Should They Matter and How Should We Solve It?
Revenue shortfalls and deficits can be addressed best by considering when to consider the deficit as the primary priority and reevaluating how revenue can be raised most efficiently through sound tax policy principles.
5 min readUnder the HEROES Act, State Budgets Could Soar as the Economy Suffers
The HEROES Act, proposed by House Democrats as a next round of fiscal relief during the coronavirus outbreak, contains about $1.08 trillion in aid to states and localities. That would bring the pandemic total to $1.63 trillion—an amount so large that it might overwhelm their ability to spend it and could reward fiscal irresponsibility.
8 min readHow the HEROES Act Would Allocate State and Local Aid for Coronavirus Relief
The HEROES Act would provide more than $1 trillion to state and local governments. Here’s how funding would be distributed and provisional estimates of how much aid each state would receive.
5 min readReducing the Bias Against Long-term Investments
Other countries have shown that providing deductions in line with invested capital costs can have positive impacts both on investment and on debt bias.
7 min readAlabama, Missouri Bills Would Exempt CARES Relief from Income Tax Calculation
Alabama and Missouri are considering excluding the CARES Act Economic Impact Payments from being taxed and exclude them from state income tax calculations.
2 min readGov. Hogan Vetoes Maryland Digital Advertising Tax Legislation
Gov. Hogan vetoed a proposed first-in-the-nation digital advertising tax that would have imposed rates of up to 10 percent on digital advertising served to Marylanders.
3 min readWatch: Coronavirus: A Path to Economic Recovery
What challenges should we expect to face as the U.S. economy begins to re-open? When is the right time for legislators to start focusing on long-term recovery vs. short-term needs? What policies should federal legislators pursue to clear a path to recovery?
1 min readWhite House Considers Neutral Cost Recovery for Structures
When considering long-term policies for increasing long-run levels of investment and economic growth, full expensing and neutral cost recovery are better targeted than policies like a capital gains cut.
6 min read