Reforming the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and providing neutral cost recovery for residential structures would tackle the problem of housing affordability in a complementary fashion.
6 min read
Affordable housing is an issue that has had long-standing bipartisan interest in D.C. But the path to increase the supply of affordable housing, though often well-intentioned, has created a bureaucratic nightmare.
President Biden is proposing extraordinarily large tax hikes on businesses and the top 1 percent of earners that would put the U.S. in a distinctly uncompetitive international position and threaten the health of the U.S. economy.
19 min read
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a highly anticipated bipartisan tax deal. The Tax Relief for American Workers and Families Act now awaits action in the Senate.
6 min read
The House Ways and Means Committee has advanced a tax deal to the House floor that would temporarily—and retroactively—restore two major business deductions for cost recovery and expand the child tax credit through 2025.
10 min read
Federal spending, deficits, and debt are at unsustainable levels. The proposed federal budget is laden with redundant programs, obsolete programs, corporate welfare, and nationalized industries. As Congress begins to craft the FY 2024 federal budget, it needs to establish a process of systematically reviewing programs and priorities.
12 min read
Affordable housing is an issue that has had long-standing bipartisan interest in D.C. But the path to increase the supply of affordable housing, though often well-intentioned, has created a bureaucratic nightmare.
Reforming the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and providing neutral cost recovery for residential structures would tackle the problem of housing affordability in a complementary fashion.
6 min read
Policymakers actively marginalized the manufacturing sector by saddling them with cost recovery rules that prevent them from deducting the full cost of investment in physical plant and equipment. Going forward, policymakers should avoid haphazard fixes, targeted measures, and protectionism.
50 min read
Congressional lawmakers are putting together a reconciliation bill to enact much of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. Many lawmakers including Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR), however, want to make their own mark on the legislation.
5 min read
To tackle problems of homelessness and housing costs, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has released a major tax proposal, the Decent Affordable Safe Housing (DASH) For All Act. Several of Wyden’s proposals are also components of the Biden administration’s infrastructure agenda, with a large focus on tax credits designed to either incentivize new housing or directly reduce rent burdens.
5 min read
While President Biden has many proposals aimed at increasing the supply of affordable housing, including tax credits, his plans to raise business taxes could hinder that goal.
4 min read
Expensing for capital investments is a powerful tax policy for economic growth. But expensing can also help shift the economy to a more sustainable future through increased investment in new, less carbon-intensive technology. Expensing for capital investment would eliminate a tax bias against energy efficiency improvements that reduce operating costs but involve high upfront investments. It could also serve to accelerate the existing trend of movement towards more green energy power sources.
28 min read
The LIHTC has subsidized over 3 million housing units since it was established in 1986, the largest source of affordable housing financing.
24 min read
Housing affordability was a major issue even before the COVID-19 crisis, but the current economic situation has made it more salient. Immediate support for people struggling makes sense now, but lawmakers should also consider long-term solutions to the problem of high rents, namely by expanding the supply of housing.
4 min read
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 extended depreciation schedules for both commercial and noncommercial of real estate, reducing the attractiveness of those investments.
21 min read
Improving cost recovery for residential structures, while not a silver bullet for solving the housing crisis, would on the margin encourage more construction that would help push rents down across the board.
4 min read
Improving the tax treatment of structures is one of the most cost-effective tax policy changes available to lawmakers as they consider how to remove investment barriers in the tax code to hasten the economic recovery. Policymakers must weigh the trade-offs among long-run economic output goals, revenue constraints, and the existing stock of structures.
13 min read