President Trump has proposed a number of tax proposals, including imposing a universal baseline tariff on all US imports, imposing a 60 percent tariff on all US imports from China, making the individual and estate tax cuts of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) permanent, maintaining the 21 percent corporate income tax rate, and making all tip income tax-exempt. From analyzing the economic impact of US tariffs and retaliatory actions to the upcoming TCJA expirations, Tax Foundation experts continue to serve as trusted thought leaders, providing research, modeling, analysis, and commentary on how the Trump tax proposals would impact U.S. competitiveness, economic growth, government revenue, and everyday taxpayers. The posts below include our research and analysis on a variety of Trump 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 Trump’s latest trade actions with our Tariff Tracker and explore the latest tax developments and analysis our Budget Reconciliation Tracker.
President Trump has called for permanent extension of the 2017 tax cuts, additional policies including no taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits for retirees, and has also promised higher taxes on US imports through a series of new tariffs.
8 min read
Trump’s tariffs are the largest tax hike since 1982. The tariffs are larger than the tax increases enacted under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
31 min read
Unless Congress acts, Americans are in for a tax hike in 2026.
3 min read
We estimate Trump’s proposed tariffs and partial retaliation from all trading partners would together offset more than two-thirds of the long-run economic benefit of his proposed tax cuts.
12 min read
Exempting overtime would unnecessarily complicate the tax code, increase compliance and administrative costs, and reduce neutrality by favoring certain work arrangements over others.
5 min read
“No tax on tips” might be a catchy idea on the campaign trail. But it could create plenty of headaches, from figuring out tips on previously untipped services to an unexpectedly large loss of federal revenue.
6 min read
Using tariff policy to reallocate investment and jobs is a costly mistake—that’s a history lesson we should not forget.
6 min read
Former President Trump floated the possibility of entirely replacing the federal income tax with new tariffs. He also raised other ideas like eliminating taxes on tipped income and lowering the corporate tax rate by one percentage point.
8 min read
Given the poor state of the budget process and worsening debt trajectory, lawmakers should move boldly and quickly to address the issue, including via a fiscal commission process. Issues to consider should include reforms to both spending and taxes.
42 min read
How much revenue could really be raised by new tariffs? Could tariffs, a form of government finance heavily relied upon in the 18th and 19th centuries, function as a major source of revenue for a modern, developed economy in the 21st century?
16 min read
Trump’s tariffs are the largest tax hike since 1982. The tariffs are larger than the tax increases enacted under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
31 min read
Despite characterizing the tariffs as “reciprocal,” the White House didn’t actually measure tariffs, currency manipulation, or trade barrier policies employed by other countries. Instead, it drew its estimates from something else entirely: bilateral trade deficits in goods.
7 min read
President Trump has called for permanent extension of the 2017 tax cuts, additional policies including no taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits for retirees, and has also promised higher taxes on US imports through a series of new tariffs.
8 min read
President Trump has announced that new tariffs will go into effect on April 2, following several weeks of threats. These new tariffs are likely to be broader in scope than the limited ones implemented thus far. So who is likely to pay for them?
7 min read
Policymakers should aim for neutral tax policies that support stable revenues like VATs and avoid inviting trade conflicts with discriminatory and economically harmful policies like DSTs.
6 min read
Contrary to the president’s promises, the tariffs will cause short-term pain and long-term pain, no matter the ways people and businesses change their behavior.
5 min read
As we learned in the first trade war, retaliation will exact harm on US exporters by lowering their export sales—and the US-imposed tariffs will directly harm exporters too. US-imposed tariffs can burden exporters by increasing input costs, which acts like a tax on exports.
4 min read
In a perilous economic and fiscal environment, with instability created by Trump’s trade war and publicly held debt on track to surpass the highest levels ever recorded within five years, a lot rides on how Republicans navigate tax and spending reforms in reconciliation.
6 min read
The agreement represents a major change for tax competition, and many countries will be rethinking their tax policies for multinationals. If there is no agreement on changes to Pillar Two or digital services taxes, retaliatory American tariffs could be on the horizon.
8 min read