Individual Tax Expenditures, Credits, and Deductions

Congress Passes $900 Billion Coronavirus Relief Package

The coronavirus relief package represents the second-largest recovery legislation, behind only the CARES Act, for a combined total of more than $3 trillion in support.

2020 Spanish Regional Tax Competitiveness Index

The Regional Tax Competitiveness Index (RTCI) for Spain allows policymakers, businesses, and taxpayers to evaluate and measure how their regions’ tax systems compare. This Index has been designed to analyze how well regions structure their tax system. Additionally, it serves as a road map for policymakers to reform their tax systems and make their regions more competitive and attractive for entrepreneurs and residents.

Individual and Business CARES Act Tax Provisions Due to Expire on December 31

Any additional relief to address a temporary economic crisis should be temporary, targeted toward those most in need, and consistent with good long-term tax policy.

Additional Pandemic Relief Might Be Taking Shape

With days left until government funding runs out, congressional lawmakers are down to the wire to fund the government and provide additional pandemic-related relief to the households and businesses trying to make it through the winter.

Outlining a Path for Tax Policy Compromises

While a sweeping tax policy bill is unlikely in the near future, lawmakers may be able to come together on a smaller scale. Pairing better cost recovery on a permanent basis with support for vulnerable households as well as additional pandemic-related relief would help promote a more rapid return to growth and help businesses and households weather the ongoing crisis.

Navigating the 2020 Tax Extenders in the Pandemic Economy

At the end of 2020, 33 temporary tax provisions are scheduled to expire at the federal level. These provisions generally fall under four categories: cost recovery, energy, individual, and other business provisions.

IRS Signals Approval of Entity-Level SALT Cap Workaround, But States Should Still Think Twice

Prospects for Federal Tax Policy After the 2020 Election

President Biden and Congress should concentrate on areas of common ground, finding incremental places to improve the tax code. A bipartisan bill recently introduced to help retirement savings is a good model for what incremental reform may look like.

Results of 2020 State and Local Tax Ballot Measures

See the results of the most notable state and local tax ballot measures during Election 2020 with our curated resource page.

Biden’s Call for More Tax Credits Further Complicates the Tax Code

Over the course of the 2020 presidential election campaign, Democratic nominee Joe Biden has proposed new tax credits for health insurance, child care, elderly care, and homeownership, in addition to expansions of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

2021 Tax Brackets

The IRS recently released the new 2021 tax brackets and rates. Explore updated credits, deductions, and exemptions, including the standard deduction & personal exemption, Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit (CTC), capital gains brackets, qualified business income deduction (199A), and the annual exclusion for gifts.

Tracking the 2020 Presidential Tax Plans

Top Rates in Each State Under Joe Biden’s Tax Plan

President Joe Biden’s tax plan would yield combined top marginal state and local rates in excess of 60 percent in three states: California, Hawaii, and New Jersey (also New York City).

Congressional Budget Office Releases 2017 Data on Household Income and Tax Burdens

Contrary to the perceptions of some, new data indicate that (1) income earned after taxes and transfers has increased over the past several decades for all income groups; (2) the federal tax system is increasingly progressive; and (3) that system relies heavily on higher earners to raise revenue for government services and means-tested transfers.

A Carbon Tax to Make the TCJA’s Individual Provisions Permanent

Making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s individual provisions permanent combined with a carbon tax can be a revenue-neutral trade and increase the long-run size of the economy by 1 percent, making it a sustainable pro-growth option.

Republican Study Committee Workforce Plan Rethinks Education, Labor, and Welfare Tax Policy

The House Republican Study Committee released a proposal, “Reclaiming the American Dream,” which includes 118 policy recommendations to address education, labor, and welfare policy with the aim of expanding opportunity, liberty, and free enterprise for all Americans.

Senate Republican Coronavirus Package Is Undermined by Complexity & Impermanence

What does the Senate Republican coronavirus package do? Are there better ways of providing short-run relief without making the tax code more complicated?

Biden’s Proposal Would Shift the Distribution of Retirement Tax Benefits

One of Biden’s tax proposals that has gotten little attention is a change that would shift the benefits of tax deferral in traditional retirement accounts toward lower- and middle-income earners. The plan would reduce the tax benefit for those earning above $80,250 but under $400,000, violating Biden’s tax pledge to not raise taxes on earners below the $400,000 threshold.

Reviewing Joe Biden’s Tax Vision

Biden’s tax vision is twofold: higher taxes on high-income earners and businesses paired with more generous provisions for specific activities and households.

Nebraska’s Property Tax Compromise Provides Temporary Relief, but Structural Reform Is Still Needed

Tax credits like the ones approved in the Nebraska bill may help legislators buy some time to work toward a more permanent solution, but they are not, in and of themselves, an effective means of providing lasting relief or generating long-term economic growth.