Taxes and their broader impact are generally overlooked in American education. Taxes influence earnings, budgets, voting, and decisions on where to live, but do American taxpayers understand the US tax system?
25 min read
As lawmakers prepare for the debate over the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), they may face increasing pressure to offset the cost of lowering tax rates by changing other parts of the tax code. One potential option to raise additional revenue to cover the cost of the TCJA’s reforms—like lower rates, a larger standard deduction, and a larger child tax credit—would be to repeal the head of household filing status.
5 min read
Short FormToday marks 55 years since two students sent the first message across the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) between computers at four universities, which would later become the internet we enjoy today.
5 min read
Explore the IRS inflation-adjusted 2025 tax brackets, for which taxpayers will file tax returns in early 2026.
4 min read
Americans will spend more than 7.9 billion hours complying with IRS tax filing and reporting requirements in 2024. This is equal to 3.8 million full-time workers doing nothing but tax return paperwork—roughly equal to the population of Los Angeles.
7 min read
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.
9 min read
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s changes to family tax policy serve as a reminder to avoid looking at tax reform provisions in a vacuum.
5 min read
To make sound financial decisions and support better tax policy, taxpayers should understand the taxes they face. Unfortunately, most U.S. taxpayers do not know or are unsure of basic tax concepts.
6 min read
Despite taxes playing a significant role in personal finances and being levied on a sizable portion of the U.S. population, most Americans are not just unhappy with the current tax code but also do not understand it.
4 min read
Short FormDon’t be fooled by tax myths and misconceptions this tax filing season.
3 min read
Short FormWorking from home is great. The tax complications? Not so much.
4 min read
Explore the IRS inflation-adjusted 2024 tax brackets, for which taxpayers will file tax returns in early 2025.
4 min read
It is hard to imagine the IRS Direct e-File Program operating seamlessly with the complexity of the current U.S. tax system. Instead, lawmakers should first address the more fundamental problem that causes taxpayer frustration: our highly complicated tax code.
4 min read
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.
10 min read
If your state issued tax rebates last year, you might have to pay federal income tax on the rebate you received. Maybe. Who knows? Unfortunately, not the IRS—at least not yet.
5 min read
A combination of long-standing IRS operational deficiencies, the agency’s temporary closure due to the pandemic, and the now-expired pandemic relief produced a perfect recipe for a paper backlog.
4 min read
The IRS recently released the new inflation adjusted 2023 tax brackets and rates. Explore updated credits, deductions, and exemptions, including the standard deduction & personal exemption, Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit (CTC), capital gains brackets, qualified business income deduction (199A), and the annual exclusion for gifts.
4 min read
The Inflation Reduction Act focused more on enforcement and hiring more auditors rather than programs that make it easier for taxpayers to comply with the code and the IRS to administer it.
6 min read