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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Review and Analysis of House Democrats Coronavirus Response Bill

The proposed Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act can be contrasted with the Senate Republican CARES Act, although they share some similarities by providing individual taxpayers with a rebate and modifying business tax provisions to provide liquidity for struggling firms.

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SALT cap repeal, State and local tax deduction cap repeal (state and local tax cap). Repealing the cap on the State and Local Tax Deduction would be regressive and mainly benefit the wealthy SALT deduction cap, House Ways and Means Committee testimony, impact of limiting SALT deduction, SALT deduction cap, State and Local Tax Deduction cap
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What Should Coronavirus Response Legislation Look Like?

As lawmakers debate how to respond to the coronavirus crisis, they should focus the legislative response to the emergency at hand, using principled policy solutions to provide relief to those affected. Attempts to use the crisis to make other, unrelated policy changes should be avoided.

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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.

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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.

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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