Evaluating U.S. Tax Reform Options & Trade-Offs

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.

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Overview of Previous Tax Rebates During Economic Downturns

The timing from enactment to distribution has varied from about one and a half months to more than two months, indicating that it has historically taken a significant amount of time for individual taxpayers to receive their rebates after the policies have been put in place.

4 min read
Worldwide investment at risk as business tax reform critical to capital investment costs expire and phase out Child Tax Credit changes and Child Tax credit reform options States should follow federal lead in postponing tax day
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States Should Follow Federal Lead in Postponing Tax Day

The federal government moved tax day from April 15 to July 15 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, granting more time for both filing and payment. But for many taxpayers, it might not matter much if states don’t follow suit.

3 min read
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Tax Policy to Bridge the Coronavirus-Induced Economic Slowdown

Tax policy can help by giving businesses current access to future tax “assets”—deductions and credits the businesses will be allowed or owed over time any way under current law—instead of making them wait.

5 min read
OECD tax revenues 2021 sources of government revenue in the oecd, 2019, government tax revenue corporate tax revenue corporate tax revenues
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Tax Policy and Economic Downturns

The Great Recession provides some insight into how tax revenues declined during a deep recession. Across OECD countries, revenues fell by 11 percent from 2008 to 2009 with corporate income taxes seeing the steepest decline at 28 percent. Revenues from individual income taxes fell by 16 percent.

4 min read