High-Income Taxpayers, Progressivity, and Inequality

Surtax

Biden’s Tax Proposals Could Impact Small Businesses Over Time

The Biden administration has primarily focused on increasing taxes on top earners to generate revenue to fund its spending priorities. However, these proposals would hit many pass-through businesses and much of pass-through business income, including small businesses, family-owned businesses, and farms.

Head Tax

The Impact of the Biden Administration’s Tax Proposals by State and Congressional District

The redistribution of income from the Biden administration’s tax proposals would involve many winners and losers, not only across different types of taxpayers but also geographically across the country. Launch our new interactive map to see average tax changes by state and congressional district over the budget window from 2022 to 2031. 

Trade-offs of Expanding Individual Tax Credits While Repealing SALT Deduction

Expanding the generosity of tax credits for lower-income individuals can help make the tax code more progressive, but it also reduces federal revenue. Pairing a credit expansion with a tax offset may sustain federal revenue but can also hamper economic growth.

Details and Analysis of President Biden’s FY 2022 Budget Proposals

Explore President Biden budget proposals, including tax and spending in American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan. See Biden tax and spending proposals.

Tracking the 2021 Biden Tax Plan and Federal Tax Proposals

Taxes are once again at the forefront of the public policy debate as legislators grapple with how to fund new infrastructure spending, among other priorities. Our tax tracker helps you stay up-to-date as new tax plans emerge from the Biden administration and Congress.

Broad-Based Taxes on Consumption and User Fees Are Efficient Ways to Raise Federal Revenue for Infrastructure

Rather than relying on damaging corporate tax hikes, policymakers should consider user fees and consumption taxes as options for financing new infrastructure to ensure that a compromise does not end up being a net negative for the U.S. economy.

Taxing Consumption Progressively Is a Better Way to Tax the Wealthy

Policymakers concerned about the current tax treatment of unrealized capital gains would be better off exploring policy solutions like consumption taxes rather than tried-and-failed strategies.

Joint Committee on Taxation Data Shows Federal Tax System Is Progressive

New Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) data indicates that the federal tax system is progressive, consistent with similar analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and the OECD.

Top Personal Income Tax Rates in Europe, 2021

Most countries’ personal income taxes have a progressive structure, meaning that the tax rate paid by individuals increases as they earn higher wages. The highest tax rate individuals pay differs significantly across Europe, with Denmark (55.9 percent), France (55.4 percent), and Austria (55 percent) having the highest top statutory personal income tax rates among European OECD countries.

Reviewing Options to Raise Tax Revenue and the Trade-offs for Economic Growth and Progressivity

There’s a useful contrast between two revenue options related to President Biden’s infrastructure push. The president’s American Jobs Plan includes a proposal to raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent. Meanwhile, historically, the gas tax is the main revenue source for transportation funding.

Tax Policy in the First 100 Days of the Biden Administration

In his first 100 days as president, Joe Biden has proposed more than a dozen significant changes to the U.S. tax code that would raise upwards of $3 trillion in revenue and reduce incentives to invest, save, and work in the United States.

Testimony: Tax Fairness, Economic Growth, and Funding Government Investments

Economic research and Tax Foundation modeling indicate there is a negative trade-off between progressive taxes on capital income—such as the wealth tax, minimum book tax on corporate income, and a higher corporate tax rate—and economic growth.

Common Tax Questions, Answered

Get answers to some of the tax policy questions we hear most often from taxpayers, businesses, and journalists. Learn everything from the basics of who pays taxes and the difference between credits and deductions, to how taxes impact the economy and what constitutes sound tax policy. Discover additional resources to explore each question and topic in more depth.

IMF Tax Proposals: Shrink Inequality or Sink Post-Pandemic Recovery?

To help countries face the pandemic-related financing needs while reducing inequality, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released a series of policy recommendations based on a temporary COVID-19 tax, levied on high incomes or wealth.

Congressional Budget Office and Tax Foundation Modeling Show That Some Tax Hikes Are More Damaging Than Others

Some tax hikes are more damaging than others, according to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and new Tax Foundation economic modeling.

Testimony: Senate Budget Committee Hearing on the Progressivity of the U.S. Tax Code

We ought to be worried about the impact of corporate taxes on women, low-skilled workers, and younger workers, since they are the very workers who have been most impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Raising the corporate tax rate would simply hurt them even more.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Wealth Tax Legislation Faces Administrative and Economic Challenges

The international experience with wealth taxes should serve as a warning to the U.S. A wealth tax would reduce the size of the economy, shrink national income, and significantly distort international capital flows.

Changes to the Tax Base Matter When Evaluating the Impact of Tax Reforms

A new study illustrates how overlooking an important element of the tax system—the structure of the tax base—can lead to an incomplete understanding of how tax reform impacts the economy.