How does tax policy shape a nation’s competitiveness? Today, we’re diving into the showdown between the US and China, exploring how China’s enticing tax incentives pose a formidable challenge to America’s economic supremacy.
Restoring expensing for R&D, machinery, and equipment; extending better cost recovery to structures investment; and avoiding raising the corporate tax rate would create a stronger, pro-investment policy environment for the US economy.
44 min read
The stakes for next year’s expiring tax provisions are quite high. If Congress does nothing, then 62 percent of households will see their taxes go up in January of 2026.
Supernormal profits are an important concept, but we should be wary of analysis that both defines supernormal profits very broadly and equates all supernormal profits with monopoly profits that can be easily taxed without negative economic effects.
23 min read
Lawmakers should consider compliance costs—not just tax liabilities—when evaluating reforms to business income taxation.
22 min read
Depending on the 2024 US election, the current corporate tax rate of 21 percent could be in for a change. See the modeling here.
4 min read
Not every change in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act simplified the tax code. However, the TCJA reduced compliance costs overall for individual filers, and allowing fundamental structural improvements to expire would make the tax code worse.
5 min read
A 15 percent corporate rate would be pro-growth, but it would not address the structural issues with today’s corporate tax base.
4 min read
A higher tax burden for private infrastructure investments like wireless spectrum, 5G technology, and machinery and equipment makes an existing problem worse—especially against the backdrop of outright state subsidies in countries like China.
6 min read
The aim of patent boxes is generally to encourage and attract local research and development (R&D) and to incentivize businesses to locate IP in the country. However, patent boxes can introduce another level of complexity to a tax system, and some recent research questions whether patent boxes are actually effective in driving innovation.
3 min read
The Treasury Department recently touted strong business investment in the years following the pandemic-driven recession and pointed to the Biden administration’s industrial policies in the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act as key drivers.
7 min read
Many countries incentivize business investment in research and development (R&D), intending to foster innovation. A common approach is to provide direct government funding for R&D activity. However, a significant number of jurisdictions also offer R&D tax incentives.
3 min read
Both candidates should provide clear and honest answers about their plans (or lack thereof) to address the nation’s urgent tax policy issues.
8 min read
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
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) significantly lowered the effective tax rates on business income, but the impact was not the same for C corporations and pass-through businesses.
6 min read
Lawmakers should see 2025 as an opportunity to consider more fundamental tax reforms. While the TCJA addressed some of the deficiencies of the tax code, it by no means addressed them all.
8 min read
As lawmakers consider which policies to prioritize in the upcoming tax policy debates, better cost recovery for all investment should be top of mind.
7 min read
Policymakers should have two priorities in the upcoming economic policy debates: a larger economy and fiscal responsibility. Principled, pro-growth tax policy can help accomplish both.
21 min read
At the end of 2025, the individual tax provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) expire all at once. Without congressional action, most taxpayers will see a notable tax increase relative to current policy in 2026.
4 min read
We’re examining the differences between the broad incentives provided by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the targeted approach of the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act.