The Biden administration has announced a number of tax proposals to fund new government investments such as infrastructure, education and family programs as part of the Build Back Better (Building a Better America) agenda. From analyzing the Build Back Better Act and Inflation Reduction Act to the U.S. Treasury’s international tax proposals, Tax Foundation experts continue to serve as trusted thought leaders, providing research, modeling, analysis, and commentary on how the Biden tax plan would impact U.S. competitiveness, economic growth, government revenue, and everyday taxpayers. The posts below include our research and analysis on a variety of Biden tax proposals. You can also explore our economic modeling via Options for Reforming America’s Tax Code and our 10 Tax Reforms for Growth and Opportunity. See the latest proposals from 2024 presidential candidates, including former President Trump, with our 2024 tax tracker
Inflation Reduction Act CHIPS and Science Act Global Tax Deal
President Biden is proposing extraordinarily large tax hikes on businesses and the top 1 percent of earners that would put the US in a distinctly uncompetitive international position and threaten the health of the US economy.
19 min read
Tax policy has become a significant focus of the U.S. 2024 presidential election. Our new interactive tool helps keep track of the tax policies proposed by presidential candidates during their campaigns.
Congress should reconsider key elements of the IRA, including the book minimum tax and the green energy credits, with an eye towards simplification and fiscal responsibility.
46 min read
Instead of such a complex and inefficient system, policymakers should move to full expensing as part of the effort to build.
3 min read
The Inflation Reduction Act increases the IRS’s budget by roughly $80 billion over 10 years. The money is broken into four main categories—enforcement, operations support, business system modernization, and taxpayer services—as well as a few other small items such as an exploratory study on the potential of a free-file system.
6 min read
In dollar terms, the industries that would account for the largest book minimum tax liabilities are manufacturing, at $73.2 billion, followed by finance, insurance, and management at $46.9 billion.
6 min read
As 2021 comes to a close, countries are moving toward harmonizing tax rules for multinationals, but stalled talks on the Build Back Better Act in the United States means new uncertainties for a global agreement and for taxpayers.
5 min read
Policymakers and taxpayers should understand the scope of tax changes necessary to fully pay for the large-scale social spending programs that would be initiated under the Build Back Better Act.
6 min read
The bulk of economic evidence shows for most of the new tariffs imposed under the Trump administration, U.S. firms or consumers bore 100 percent, or even more, of the burden through lower profits or higher retail prices.
5 min read
As the Senate weighs changes to the spending and tax portions of the Build Back Better Act, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Tax Foundation find the bill would increase the cumulative budget deficit over the next 10 years—contrary to claims the legislation is “fully paid for.”
4 min read
As Congress contemplates adding a new worldwide interest limitation rule as part of the House Build Back Better Act, it is useful to consider the potential effects of this proposal as well as whether it is necessary to add this on top of the U.S.’s existing restrictions on the value of interest deductions.
8 min read
While the book minimum tax is smaller in scale than the proposed original corporate rate increases, it would introduce more complexity, inefficiency, and problems at the industry- and sector-levels that a corporate rate increase would not. Neither option is an optimal way to raise new tax revenues.
4 min read
Learn more about the House Build Back Better Act, including the latest details and analysis of the Biden tax increases and reconciliation bill tax proposals.
15 min read
Senior policy analyst Garrett Watson joins host Jesse Solis to discuss the Build Back Better Act’s prospects and what tax changes—ranging from the SALT deduction to the Child Tax Credit—could change in order to gain enough support for passage.
As lawmakers today look for ways to boost American industry and reduce costs for consumers, they should pay attention to the mountains of evidence that the Trump-Biden tariffs have harmed American consumers and businesses.
5 min read
When looking at the tax burden on businesses over time, it is important to provide a complete picture by accounting for the different types of businesses in the U.S. and the timing effects of the 2017 tax law. Doing so provides important context on existing tax burdens and for considering the impact of raising taxes on corporations and pass-through firms.
3 min read
The persistently high inflation in recent months has made some lawmakers question the need for additional deficit spending, In the short term, the Build Back Better Act would likely contribute to inflation, but the magnitude of that contribution is unclear.
3 min read
The Build Back Better Act would raise taxes to pay for social spending programs. But the design of some of the tax increases may end up hurting private pensions, among other problems.
6 min read
One unintended consequence of the tax proposals in the Build Back Better Act is a higher potential burden on wireless spectrum investments, which could slow the build out of 5G technology as the U.S. races to compete with other countries—moving in the opposite direction of countries like China that are actively subsidizing 5G expansion.
5 min read
Due to the House Build Back Better tax plan’s economically costly and inefficient tax increases, our analysis finds that long-run GDP would drop by a little over $1 for every $1 in new tax revenue.
6 min read
Infrastructure has made its way across the finish line, but the tax debate is far from over on Capitol Hill. Senior policy analyst Garrett Watson joins host Jesse Solis to walk us through the latest iteration of Democrats’ trillion-dollar reconciliation package and the myriad tax changes that are being proposed to finance this deal.
The most recent versions of President Biden’s Build Back Better plan are improvements on the original proposal, but would still reduce economic growth and average after-tax incomes for the top 80 percent of earners in the long run.
7 min read
The nicotine tax proposal in the Build Back Better Act neglects sound excise tax policy design and by doing so risks harming public health. Lawmakers should reconsider this approach to nicotine taxation.
8 min read
Under the latest iteration of the House Build Back Better Act (BBBA), the average top tax rate on personal income would reach 57.4 percent, giving the U.S. the highest rate in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
2 min read
Under the Build Back Better framework, six states and D.C. would face combined top marginal capital gains tax rates of more than 40 percent, nearing the top rate among OECD countries.
2 min read
Under the new Build Back Better framework, the United States would tax capital gains at the third-highest top marginal rate among rich nations, averaging nearly 37 percent.
1 min read