As the U.S. federal, state, and local governments, as well as countries around the world, continue to implement measures to support their economies amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our experts are providing trusted analysis of the latest coronavirus tax developments to better inform policymakers, journalists, and taxpayers.
If you are new to the Tax Foundation’s work, you can learn more about who we are and what we do here. You can also stay informed on the latest coronavirus tax updates with our weekly newsletter. As an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we rely on the generosity of people like you to make our work here possible.
The major tax-related benefits in the $1.9 trillion economic relief plan are a third round of direct payments, extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and a $10,200 unemployment insurance income exemption for 2020, and an expansion of the Child Tax Credit.
6 min read
Congress chose to exempt forgiven Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from federal income taxation. Many states, however, remain on track to tax them by either treating forgiven loans as taxable income, denying the deduction for expenses paid for using forgiven loans, or both.
7 min read
The American Rescue Plan Act’s restriction on states’ Fiscal Recovery Funds being used to directly or indirectly offset a net tax cut is vague and raises difficult questions of interpretation and application. A broad interpretation of this prohibition may be unconstitutional.
19 min read
The government of Hartford County, Connecticut is in line to receive $173 million in local aid under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). There’s only one problem: the government of Hartford County doesn’t exist, nor do any of Connecticut’s other counties have county-level government despite being allocated a collective $691 million under the bill.
4 min read
State and local tax policy have always mattered, but the rise of remote work is bringing tax burdens and economic competitiveness to the forefront. It is a development that states cannot afford to ignore.
5 min read
As the Biden administration and Congress consider making the expanded child tax credit permanent, a nearly $1.6 trillion expansion of tax code-administered benefits, they should consider financing it in a way that doesn’t create significant headwinds to economic recovery.
3 min readTax treatment can affect investment decisions. Extending expensing treatment (full and immediate deductions) to all forms of capital investment, human and physical, would help facilitate sustainable long-run economic growth.
2 min read
States can tax your income where you live and where you work—but a growing number of states may also seek to tax your income even if you neither live nor work there, an aggressive posture that becomes increasingly consequential as more Americans work remotely both during and potentially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
15 min read
Nevada is not alone in its need to find revenue, but it should take care not to embrace bad tax policy in the process. Significant rate increases, a shift in the tax base, and provisions which make it easier to hike taxes than to cut them would heavily burden the mining industry in the state.
3 min read
The fiscal response to the COVID-19 pandemic will require policymakers to consider what revenue resources should be used to fill budget gaps. Tax policy experts have proposed wealth taxes, (global) corporate minimum taxes, excess profits taxes, and digital taxes as opportunities for governments to raise new revenues.
20 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.
5 min read
First, the introduction of the wealth tax would significantly impact international capital flows and cause large economic dislocations in the short term. Second, provinces that are looking at raising their corporate tax rates might hinder capital attraction, growth, and economic recovery.
4 min read
On Thursday, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) released the Coronavirus Assistance for American Families Act (CAAF), which would provide payments of $1,000 to adults and children with Social Security numbers, subject to income limits used in the original round of rebates. Among other modifications, it would be more generous to households and families with children when compared to the original rebates distributed under the CARES Act.
5 min read
Brazil has one of the world’s most complex tax systems. Brazil has the opportunity to implement a simple consumption tax and foster tax progressivity at the same time.
5 min read
Today marked the release of second-quarter GDP data and provides a new glimpse into early changes in state and local revenues and spending. All told, second-quarter state and local tax receipts came in about 3.8 percent lower than they did in the same quarter a year ago. Income and sales taxes fell considerably while property and excise tax collections remained stable.
3 min read
Senators Ted Cruz and Martha McSally introduced the CREATE JOBS Act that would make two significant changes to incentivize investment in the United States.
3 min read
A resurgence in coronavirus cases and receding economic activity in many states threaten the nascent economic recovery. To address the ongoing crisis, the Senate Republican Phase 4 proposal builds on the CARES Act provisions while modifying others, including a scaled down federal UI benefit.
8 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
Today’s advocates would do well to study the history of excess profits taxes before overselling these taxes as a solution to the COVID-19 crisis.
6 min read
The European Council recently agreed on a new multiannual budget and a recovery program, which sets EU budget levels for 2021-2027 totals €1 trillion (US $1.2 trillion). The lack of details on the various tax proposals and the eventual need for revenue sources to finance new EU debt mean there is a lot of work left for policymakers in Brussels to do.
4 min read
From a revenue standpoint, Wisconsin was better off than many states going into this crisis, but the policy decisions—including tax policy decisions—state policymakers make in the months ahead will have far-reaching implications for how quickly jobs and wages are restored in Wisconsin.
7 min read
Revised state revenue forecasts show a significant decline in projected revenues for both the recently concluded FY 2020 and current FY 2021, though the picture they paint is considerably less dire than many feared a few months ago.
13 min read
Before considering industry-specific laws and subsidies for onshoring, policymakers should make sure the U.S. tax code is not biased against domestic investment in the first place.
4 min read
Rather than limit improvements to certain sectors, lawmakers could pursue a broader policy of full expensing for all capital investment and neutral cost recovery for structures and clear the tax policy hurdles that currently stand in the way of private investment.
3 min read
While it is important that Peru find ways to offset its deficit spending, a temporary wealth tax may introduce more problems than it solves.
5 min read
Cost recovery is the way the tax code permits firms to recover (or deduct) the cost of making investments. Cost recovery plays an important role in defining a business’ taxable income and can impact investment decisions.