States, Congress Need to Hop Off the ‘No Tax on Tips’ Bandwagon
Political popularity isn’t always a reliable gauge of sound policy—and that’s certainly true of President Donald Trump’s idea to eliminate taxes on tips, bonuses, and overtime pay.
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Disallowing Business SALT Raises Significant Revenue for Reconciliation but Slows Economic Growth
Pairing permanent TCJA individual tax cuts with new limits on business SALT deductions would shrink the economy, reduce American incomes, and increase the federal budget deficit, undermining the policy goals of TCJA permanence.
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What Happens If Social Security Runs Out in 2035?
What happens when the country’s most important retirement program runs out of money? Social Security faces a funding crisis by 2035. We unpack how the system works, why it’s in trouble, and what fixes could keep it afloat.
The Tax Code Should Not Be a Game of Hide-and-Seek
Lawmakers should push against efforts to lift the SALT cap, and they should keep an eye toward bringing additional transparency to the tax system.
Missouri’s New Tax Cut Bill Sets the Stage for a Flat Tax Future
The flat tax trend is gaining momentum nationwide, and Missouri lawmakers are right to identify income tax rate reductions as particularly pro-growth.
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No Tax on Tips and Overtime Proposals Gain Steam Across States, but Remain a Bad Idea
The trend of tax exemptions on tips, overtime, and bonuses may sound like a win for workers, but it is a shortsighted fix with long-term drawbacks.
11 min read
North Dakota’s Property Tax Reform Proposals: A Three-Part Approach
North Dakota’s financial position provides it with a rare capacity to deliver meaningful property tax relief. However, policymakers must balance immediate relief with fiscal sustainability and ensure that local governments remain adequately funded in the years ahead.
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Taxing Life Insurance
As Congress attempts to prevent the expiration of major Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions, it needs to find ways to pay for them. Ideally, it should use the least economically harmful means possible.
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The Truth About Tariffs—Fact-Checking Trump’s Trade Claims
Do tariffs really level the playing field, or are they just bad economics? In this emergency episode, we fact-check the Trump administration’s claims that retaliatory tariffs make trade fairer.
The Global Tax Deal, Tax Cuts, and Tariffs—5 Major Tax Debates
What are the biggest tax stories shaping policy today—and what do they mean for you? In our 100th episode, we break down the five biggest tax stories, from the global tax deal to the looming expiration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Abolishing Taxes on Tips Would Be a Costly Mistake
The individual income tax has plenty of problems, but in some respects the tax has improved in recent decades. Unfortunately, several Trump administration proposals would move us in the wrong direction, including the president’s call to drop taxes on tips.
Facts & Figures 2025: 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.
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North Carolina Tries Mimicking Trump’s Tips and Overtime Proposal, But Should Be Cautious
A North Carolina House bill titled “No Tax on Tips, Overtime, Bonus Pay,” is gaining bipartisan traction in the General Assembly, mirroring similar proposals nationwide, including those championed by President Trump.
4 min read
Picking the Right Budgetary Offsets Key to Tax Reform Success
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
Pro-Growth Tax Reform for Oklahoma, 2025
Lawmakers should finish the work they have begun over the past few decades, tackling tax rates and structures to give the state a leg up in an era of enhanced competition.
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Congressional Policymakers Should Tread Carefully When Weighing New Corporate SALT Deduction Limits
While capping C-SALT has superficial appeal in perceived parity with personal limits, it rests on flawed assumptions about the nature of individual and corporate income taxes.
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Making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Permanent: Economic, Revenue, and Distributional Effects
Permanently extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would boost long-run economic output by 1.1 percent, the capital stock by 0.7 percent, wages by 0.5 percent, and hours worked by 847,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
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2024 European Tax Policy Scorecard
The variety of approaches to taxation among European countries creates a need to evaluate these systems relative to each other. For that purpose, we have developed the European Tax Policy Scorecard—a relative comparison of European countries’ tax systems.
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State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2025
Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for more than a third of state tax collections. How do income taxes compare in your state?
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Don’t Let the Loophole Lobby Decide the Tax Debate
If Republicans want a successful year for tax reform, they must put aside the extensive demands for niche provisions and, instead, approach this debate with a principles-first mindset.