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.
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Although the U.S. has a progressive tax system and a relatively low tax burden compared to the OECD average, average-wage workers still pay more than 30 percent of their wages in taxes.
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While some temporary policies can help in a crisis, policymakers should focus their efforts on sustainable policies that support growth and the resilience of businesses (and government coffers) over the long term.
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Scandinavian countries are well known for their broad social safety net and their public funding of services such as universal health care, higher education, parental leave, and child and elderly care. So how do Scandinavian countries raise their tax revenues?
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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.
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The latest IRS data shows that the U.S. federal individual income tax continued to be progressive, borne primarily by the highest income earners.
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New CBO data shows that the current U.S. fiscal system—both taxes and direct federal benefits—is very progressive and very redistributive.
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The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced the cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security payments based on inflation over the previous year. This has brought renewed attention to how the tax code treats Social Security benefits, which can be a confusing subject for taxpayers.
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While there is more we can do to encourage lower- and middle-class households to save more and build wealth, a closer, more comprehensive look at the data and trends in other countries suggests that America’s wealth gap is not as alarming as some may think.
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Reviewing reported income helps to understand the composition of the federal government’s revenue base and how Americans earn their taxable income. The individual income tax, the federal government’s largest source of revenue, is largely a tax on labor.
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Although the U.S. has a progressive tax system and a relatively low tax burden compared to the OECD average, average-wage workers still pay nearly 30 percent of their wages in taxes.
4 min read
Compared to other industrialized countries, the United States relies more on individual income taxes and property taxes and less on consumption taxes.
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Whether spurred by a belief that government is improperly favoring religious institutions, an antipathy to wealthy celebrity pastors, or a hope that taxing houses of worship could bring down personal tax bills, the taxation of religious bodies is hotly debated online, but barely on the radar of actual elected officials. But is that true? How much, if any, tax revenue is forgone, and what do the policies look like?
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As economies are starting to recover and growth is expected to rebound in the region during 2021, Asian and Pacific countries should start exploring changes to their fiscal tax policies while carefully evaluating the optimal time for eliminating fiscal stimulus and temporary tax relief.
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New research from Federal Reserve Bank of Boston economists suggests wealth inequality has grown less than previously estimated and that shares of wealth held by top earners drops significantly when accounting for sources of lower- and middle-class wealth that are often overlooked.
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Thirteen states tax Social Security benefits, a matter of significant interest to retirees. Each of these states has its own approach to determining what share of benefits is subject to tax, though these provisions can be grouped together into a few broad categories.
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Tax hikes implemented in the near term might undermine Spain’s economic recovery. Spain should focus on implementing tax reforms that have the potential to stimulate economic recovery by supporting private investment and employment while increasing its internal and international tax competitiveness.
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Social insurance taxes are the second largest tax revenue source in European OECD countries, at an average of 29.5 percent of total tax revenue.
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See the results of the most notable state and local tax ballot measures during Election 2020 with our curated resource page.
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