When taxpayers file their 2025 tax returns in 2026, many will see larger refunds than in recent years. That’s due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which reduced individual income taxes for 2025 by an estimated $129 billion.
4 min read
The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, a California ballot initiative, would ostensibly impose a one-time tax of 5 percent on the net worth of the state’s billionaires. Due, however, to aggressive design choices and possible drafting errors, the actual rate on taxpayers’ net worth could be dramatically higher.
18 min read
A proposed “millionaire’s tax” in Washington State would yield the highest combined state and local top rate in the country.
6 min read
As policymakers consider reforms to the individual income tax, understanding the types of income that make up the individual income tax base can help them understand the trade-offs of different changes to the tax system.
8 min read
Scandinavian countries are well known for their broad social safety nets and their public funding of services such as universal health care, higher education, parental leave, and child and elderly care. High levels of government spending naturally require high levels of taxation. So, how do these countries raise their tax revenues?
7 min read
Explore the IRS inflation-adjusted 2026 tax brackets, for which taxpayers will file tax returns in early 2027.
5 min read
Forty-three states will ring in 2026 with notable tax changes. Eight states will see reduced individual income tax rates in the new year while four states will see reduced corporate income tax rates.
30 min read
In this episode, we break down what the OBBBA did, walk through our projections, and zoom out to other defining fights of 2025: Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, the Supreme Court challenge over presidential tariff power, and the growing wave of property tax revolts across the states.
Instead of implementing new wealth taxes, European policymakers should focus on making the current tax system more efficient and transparent.
Switzerland’s proposed 50 percent billionaire estate tax promises negligible revenue, risks economic harm, and strips cantons of their autonomy and tax competition.
5 min read
Under nearly any design option, sending out $2,000 payments to Americans would increase, not decrease, the federal budget deficit. A better way to provide relief from the burden of tariffs would be to eliminate the tariffs.
4 min read
Who really pays for European welfare states? Many assume the answer is obvious: high-income earners contribute while low-income earners benefit. However, that assumption is only partly true, and often misleading.
6 min read
Several political leaders, including the White House, have touted the OBBBA as the “largest tax cut in American history.” While significant, the OBBBA is not the largest tax cut in American history; it’s the sixth largest.
3 min read
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act contains several key policies that will affect how many taxpayers itemize, and how itemizers may benefit from deducting charitable donations.
4 min read
Each level of government provides its own services and therefore levies its own taxes to generate revenue for these services.
Spain’s central government could learn some valuable lessons from its regional governments and other European countries about sound tax policy.
7 min read
Excise taxes are regressive, and other alternatives are frequently available to incentivize behavior change.
6 min read
In the spirit of change and improvement, it’s worth looking back to see which states have truly embraced tax competitiveness since 2020, and which ones have lagged behind.
6 min read
Short FormThe recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is certainly big, but is it “beautiful”? Many provisions in the OBBBA will have noticeable impacts on individual taxpayers, including some that are beneficial to your wallet.
4 min read
While the Council of DC is right to consider decoupling its tax code from several revenue-reducing provisions in the OBBBA, they should maintain conformity with the business expensing reforms that are strongly pro-growth, better align with sound tax principles, and primarily change the timing of revenues.
4 min read