Individual and Consumption Taxes

Soda Tax

Recession

Arkansas’s Rate Reduction Acceleration

Arkansas recently became the 13th state to authorize an individual income tax rate reduction this year. This round of tax cuts accelerated reforms enacted eight months ago.

IRS Funding and Technology

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) finds itself under fire often. Outdated technology, millions of unanswered calls, and cafeterias full of paper returns—it’s clear that America’s tax collector needs improvement. Jesse is joined by Courtney Kay-Decker and Jared Ballew, chair and vice chair (respectively) of the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC). They discuss ETAAC’s annual report that lays out what the IRS is doing right, and what it’s doing wrong, as the agency continues to see its duties grow.

How to Think About IRS Tax Enforcement Provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act increases the IRS’s budget by roughly $80 billion over 10 years. The money is broken into four main categories—enforcement, operations support, business system modernization, and taxpayer services—as well as a few other small items such as an exploratory study on the potential of a free-file system.

FDA Ban on Flavored Cigars Could Cost $836 Million in Annual Excise Tax Revenue

The FDA’s proposal to ban flavored cigars would carry significant revenue implications for many state governments.

Japan’s Tax and Benefit System for Working Parents Isn’t Working

The Japanese tax and benefit system comes with trade-offs that policymakers must keep in mind when planning to reform the tax policy.

Does Your State Have a Marriage Penalty?

A marriage penalty exists when a state’s income brackets for married taxpayers filing jointly are less than double the bracket widths that apply to single filers. In other words, married couples who file jointly under this scenario have a higher effective tax rate than they would if they filed as two single individuals with the same amount of combined income.

Who Gets Hit by the Inflation Reduction Act Book Minimum Tax?

In dollar terms, the industries that would account for the largest book minimum tax liabilities are manufacturing, at $73.2 billion, followed by finance, insurance, and management at $46.9 billion.

Details & Analysis of the Inflation Reduction Act Tax Provisions

How will the Inflation Reduction Act taxes impact inflation, economic growth, tax revenue, and everyday taxpayers? See Inflation Reduction Act tax changes.

Minimum Book Tax: Flawed Revenue Source, Penalizes Pro-Growth Cost Recovery

While exempting accelerated depreciation from the book minimum tax would reduce some of the economic harm of the tax, there remain many unresolved problems within the design and structure of the tax that make it a poorly chosen revenue option.

It Would Be a Mistake to Resurrect Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax

The Inflation Reduction Act may be smaller than the proposed Build Back Better legislation from 2021, but both sets of legislation propose a reintroduced corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT). The 30-year experience with a corporate AMT shows it is not a good solution.

Australia’s Tax and Benefit System Might Deter Working Parents from Advancing in Their Careers

While the tax and benefit system can be successful in keeping low-income working households out of poverty and encouraging workforce participation, high marginal tax rates like the one observed in the case of this Australian working parent act as barriers to upward mobility.

2022 Sales Tax Holidays: Bad Policy Any Year, But Especially in Response to High Inflation

However well-intended they may be, sales tax holidays remain the same as they always have been—ineffective and inefficient.

Consumption Tax

3 Observations on the CBO Long-Term Budget Outlook

The latest CBO long-term budget outlook paints a troubling picture of fiscal irresponsibility. Rather than halt this rampant spending, Congress is actively adding programs that will exacerbate these long-term trends.

Indiana Should Use Surplus to Expedite Rate Cuts, Index Exemptions for Inflation

Expediting income tax rate reductions and indexing major income tax provisions for inflation are two of the most important tax policy changes policymakers could make to provide meaningful tax relief to Hoosiers both now and in the years to come.

Health-care Premiums Could Deter Canadians’ Upward Mobility

Canadian workers could face up to two important marginal tax rate spikes and lose 60 percent of additional earnings to the provincial health-care premium.

Push for Higher Taxes Is Misguided During a Time of Inflation and Looming Recession

Some 40 years ago, the U.S. dealt with high inflation and slow economic growth. Then as now, the solution is a long-term focus on stronger economic growth and sustainable federal budgets.

New Jersey’s Proposed Menthol Ban Is All Pain and No Gain

New Jersey lawmakers should be weary of flavor bans after seeing the results in Massachusetts.