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Extending tax cuts budgetary impact 2017 tax law Tax Cuts and Jobs Act policy baseline vs law baseline

All About That Base(line)

If lawmakers are serious about pro-growth policies and fiscal responsibility, they will need to put policies forward that achieve those goals. Simply adjusting the baseline doesn’t reduce actual deficits in the coming years.

7 min read
2026 Tax Brackets Tax Filing Tax Season

How 2026 Tax Brackets Would Change if the TCJA Expires

If Congress allows the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) to expire as scheduled, most aspects of the individual income tax would undergo substantial changes, resulting in more than 62 percent of tax filers experiencing tax increases in 2026.

3 min read
10 Less Harmful Ways of Raising Federal Revenues

10 Less Harmful Ways of Raising Federal Revenues

If lawmakers are convinced that new revenues must be part of any long-term effort to solve the budget crisis or offset the cost of extending the TCJA, they must choose the least harmful ways of raising new revenues or else risk undermining their efforts by slowing economic growth.

7 min read
Full TCJA extension fiscal challenges highlighted by latest CBO projections

Latest CBO Projections Highlight Fiscal Challenge of Full TCJA Extension

While neither full expiration nor a deficit-financed full extension of the TCJA would be appropriate, lawmakers should consider the incentive effects of whichever tax reform they pursue. Because taxes affect the economy, they also affect the sustainability of debt reduction.

3 min read
US deficits, spending, and taxes CBO Budget and Economic Outlook 2024

Major Takeaways from CBO’s Updated Long-Term Outlook

The CBO projects deficits will be higher than historical levels, largely due to growth in mandatory spending programs While some recent legislation has reduced the deficit, the Inflation Reduction Act is proving to be more expensive than originally promised.

5 min read
Federal deficit grew to $2 trillion in FY 2023 Federal Budget Deficit Data and Projections

Federal Deficit Grew to $2 Trillion in FY 2023

Outside of the pandemic years, this year’s federal deficit is the highest in U.S. history. While tax revenue has increased about 28 percent since the pre-pandemic year 2019, spending has increased about 46 percent. Annual deficits are headed towards $3 trillion over the next few years.

3 min read
Tax Foundation experts analyze ways to rein in the national debt, including US debt and deficits and federal budget and US spending and taxes

How to Rein in the National Debt

Now is the time for lawmakers to focus on long-term fiscal sustainability, as further delay will only make an eventual fiscal reckoning that much harder and more painful. Congressional leaders should follow through on convening a fiscal commission to deal with the long-term budgetary challenges facing the country.

35 min read
Tackling US debt crisis requires Medicare reform and Social Security reform to reduce the deficit

Tackling America’s Debt and Deficit Crisis Requires Social Security and Medicare Reform

Any serious proposal to tackle the emerging debt and deficit crisis must also address our largest mandatory spending programs: Social Security and Medicare. Together, these two programs will be responsible for nearly 80 percent of the deficit’s rise between 2023 and 2032, according to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections.

8 min read
Deteriorating federal budget deficits highlight need to stabilize federal debt. See federal deficit taxes contextualized amid push to balance the budget

Deteriorating Federal Budget to Run $1.4 Trillion Deficit in 2023, CBO Projects

Immediately balancing the $20 trillion budget shortfall would take drastic, unwanted policy changes. Instead, lawmakers should target a more achievable goal, such as stabilizing debt and deficits with an eye toward comprehensive tax reform that can produce sufficient revenue with minimal economic harm.

4 min read
The top 1 percent of taxpayers pay about 25 percent of all federal taxes US progressive tax code

CBO Analysis Finds Income Growth and Progressive Tax Code in 2019

Newly published data from the CBO indicates in 2019, before the onset of the pandemic, American incomes continued to rise as part of a broad economic expansion. It also shows that, contrary to common perceptions, the federal tax system is progressive.

4 min read