Tax Filing Season: Options for Improvement
Efforts to improve the taxpayer experience should focus on the IRS’s operations and include structural improvements to the tax code.
4 min read
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Chaotic IRS Filing Season Shows the Perils of Running Social Policy Through the Tax Code
As the deadline for tax filing nears, the IRS faces scrutiny for its backlog of returns, inaccessible taxpayer service, and delays in issuing certain refunds.
5 min read
Georgia Makes Strides Toward Tax Competitiveness
Lawmakers can be proud of the steps that they have taken toward a better tax code but should consider revisiting the design of the bill’s tax triggers in order to better accomplish their goal of responsible improvement.
6 min read
Proposed Minimum Tax on Billionaire Capital Gains Takes Tax Code in Wrong Direction
Biden’s proposal would impose a complicated never been tried before tax, adding new compliance and administrative challenges for an already overburdened IRS while weakening the U.S. economy by raising the tax burden on U.S. saving and entrepreneurship.
6 min read
State Legislatures Take Up Tax Reform and Relief in 2022
After a whirlwind of cuts and reforms in 2021, it looks like 2022 might be an even bigger year for state tax codes. Republican and Democratic governors alike used their annual State of the State addresses to call for tax reform, and there is already serious momentum from state lawmakers nationwide to get the job done.
3 min read
Facts & Figures 2022: How Does Your State Compare?
Facts & Figures serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more.
2 min read
Iowa Enacts Sweeping Tax Reform
Even if 2022 sees many tax reforms, the scope of Iowa’s tax relief measures is likely to stand out. With the most recent reform package, Iowa lawmakers have made a significant investment in a more competitive tax climate for an increasingly competitive era.
6 min read
Georgia Income Tax Reform Would Improve Standing Among Neighbors, Country
In a time of increased mobility and tax competition, a lower rate and simpler tax structure would help Georgia stand out among states. Lawmakers would be wise to consider reforming the state’s income tax to improve the state’s competitiveness.
3 min read
10 Tax Reforms for Growth and Opportunity
By reducing the tax code’s current barriers to investment and saving and simplifying its complex rules, lawmakers would greatly enhance the ability of Americans to pursue new ideas, create more opportunities, and build financial security for themselves and their families.
40 min read
The Child Tax Credit Score
The expanded Child Tax Credit from the American Rescue Plan was touted as a once-in-a-lifetime achievement toward reducing child poverty. But it was passed as a temporary tax measure. Temporary tax policy makes tax filing confusing, and the IRS has shown that it isn’t able to keep pace with being a social administrator and a tax collector. We discuss what taxpayers need to know about the ever-changing Child Tax Credit and how it may impact taxpayers this spring.
Tax Season’s Greetings
The 2022 tax filing season is about to begin. With expected delays, pandemic-related troubles, and a backlog of over 8 million unprocessed returns from the 2021 tax filing season, Garrett Watson joins Jesse Solis to discuss what all these troubles will mean for taxpayers in what is shaping up to be a chaotic spring.
What the U.S. Can Learn from the Adoption (and Repeal) of Wealth Taxes in the OECD
Recent discussions of a proposed wealth tax for the United States have included little information about trends in wealth taxation among other developed nations. However, those trends and the current state of wealth taxes in OECD countries can provide context for U.S. proposals.
3 min read
Bumpy Tax Filing Season Ahead Due to IRS Backlog and Pandemic Tax Relief
The National Taxpayer Advocate argued the IRS telephone service “was the worst it has ever been” in 2021, with an answer rate of about 11 percent.
4 min read
Comparing Europe’s Tax Systems: Property Taxes
According to the 2021 International Tax Competitiveness Index, Switzerland has the best-structured consumption tax among OECD countries while Poland has the worst-structured consumption tax code.
2 min read
Traveling for the Holidays? States Would Like the Gift of Taxes
In most states, you don’t have to visit for long before you start accruing tax liability.
5 min read
Comparing Europe’s Tax Systems: Consumption Taxes
According to the 2021 International Tax Competitiveness Index, Switzerland has the best-structured consumption tax among OECD countries while Poland has the worst-structured consumption tax code.
2 min read
Comparing Europe’s Tax Systems: Individual Taxes
France’s individual income tax system is the least competitive of all OECD countries. It takes French businesses on average 80 hours annually to comply with the income tax.
3 min read