Our dedicated excise tax experts, Adam Hoffer and Jacob Macumber-Rosin, provide leading tax policy research, analysis, and commentary of the latest proposals and trends related to excise taxes. Explore the vast and changing world of excise taxation.
President Trump has called for permanent extension of the 2017 tax cuts, additional policies including no taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits for retirees, and has also promised higher taxes on US imports through a series of new tariffs.
7 min read
President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico is estimated to reduce long-run GDP by 0.2 percent, reduce hours worked by 223,000 full-time equivalent jobs, and reduce after-tax incomes by an average of 0.6 percent—before accounting for foreign retaliation.
26 min read
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) introduced a series of new targeted tax breaks, many of which seem to be much more expensive than originally forecasted. Understandably, repealing these subsidies is a key option for policymakers looking to pay to extend the expiring broader tax cuts passed in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).
7 min read
An update to the EU’s Excise Tax Directive that embraces harm reduction principles would save lives and provide a steady stream of revenue to support public health expenditures.
22 min read
The amount of revenue states raise through roadway-related revenues varies significantly across the US. Only three states raise enough revenue to fully cover their highway spending.
5 min read
As we learned in the first trade war, retaliation will exact harm on US exporters by lowering their export sales—and the US-imposed tariffs will directly harm exporters too. US-imposed tariffs can burden exporters by increasing input costs, which acts like a tax on exports.
4 min read
In a perilous economic and fiscal environment, with instability created by Trump’s trade war and publicly held debt on track to surpass the highest levels ever recorded within five years, a lot rides on how Republicans navigate tax and spending reforms in reconciliation.
6 min read
While fixing infrastructure funding has not been a focus of the tax expiration debate, it would be a smart way to pay for at least a small portion of the expiring tax cuts. In recent years, highway funding has exceeded highway revenues, and the introduction of electric vehicles has made the gas tax increasingly obsolete.
7 min read
The House Budget Committee has released a budget resolution that specifies large reductions in both taxes and spending over the next decade, paving the way to extend the expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and potentially cut other taxes.
6 min read
In this episode, Adam Hoffer, Director of Excise Tax Policy at the Tax Foundation, joins Kyle Hulehan to unpack the intricacies of sports betting tax policy during one of the biggest betting events of the year—Super Bowl 59.
As Republicans look for ways to offset the budgetary cost of extending the expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and potentially enacting other tax cuts, the latest estimates indicate several trillion dollars could be raised by reducing tax credits and other preferences in the tax code.
5 min read
The proposed ad quantum tax would be the system that most closely follows the global best practices for alcohol taxes we previously outlined.
4 min read
Facing a projected $3 billion budget deficit in fiscal year 2026, with forecasts of a growing gap over the next five years, Governor Wes Moore (D) has included about $1 billion in proposed tax increases in his budget proposal.
7 min read
Given the poor state of the budget process and worsening debt trajectory, lawmakers should move boldly and quickly to address the issue, including via a fiscal commission process. Issues to consider should include reforms to both spending and taxes.
42 min read
Thirty-nine states will begin 2025 with notable tax changes, including nine states cutting individual income taxes. Recent years have seen a wave of significant tax reforms, and the changes scheduled for 2025 show that these efforts have not let up.
25 min read
The US already has massive problems with cigarette smuggling. A cigarette prohibition would be devastating to tax coffers while pushing smokers toward what could become the world’s largest illicit market.
4 min read
Tax avoidance is a natural consequence of tax policy. Policymakers should consider the unintended consequences, both to public health and public coffers, of the excise taxes and regulatory regimes for cigarettes and other nicotine products.
5 min read
Consumers legally wagered more than $100 billion on sporting contests in 2023, creating more than $1.8 billion in state revenue. Sports betting is now legal in 38 states and DC, and the landscape is rapidly evolving.
18 min read
Growing cigarette tax levels and differentials have made cigarette smuggling both a national problem and a lucrative criminal enterprise.
16 min read
With the significant potential for state revenues, and the prior political success of arguments that legalization can shift consumers to safer legal markets, it seems likely that states will continue to see legislation and ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana at the state level—even states that failed to do so this election.
5 min read