Video: Tax Reform Is More Than Just the Rate

Transcript

Tax policy is almost always a balancing act between the tax rate - how much someone pays - and the tax base - who or what is being taxed.

When the balance is right, the government is able to generate revenue and there are positive economic outcomes.

When the balance is off, revenue can be unstable, and individuals, businesses, and the economy suffer.

Generally, the right balance is a low rate paired with a wide base.

This was the recipe for success in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

The TCJA lowered the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21%, but it also greatly expanded the corporate tax base through a number of domestic and international provisions.

Together, the lower rate combined with a wider base allowed companies of all sizes to grow, create more jobs, and innovate more effectively.

Parts of the TCJA are set to expire in 2025.

Other provisions are permanent, like the reduced corporate income tax rate and the expanded base.

Despite this, there are growing calls to raise the corporate tax rate again.

But because the corporate tax base is so much broader now, raising the rate will increase the overall burden more in 2025 than it would have before the TCJA, potentially resulting in a higher corporate tax burden than pre-TCJA.

Even the smallest increase could do major harm to economic growth, wages, job creation, and innovation.

To paint the full picture, and achieve sound tax policy, we have to consider the rate AND the base.