The OBBBA Senior Deduction Is Poorly Targeted Tax Relief
Narrowly targeted tax policies are rarely effective in achieving their goals, and the expanded senior deduction under the OBBBA is no exception.
4 min read
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Movers and Shakers in the 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index
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
Blog
Short FormWhat the OBBBA Individual Tax Changes Mean for You
The 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
DC Should Be Judicious About Decoupling from the OBBBA
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
Trump’s Tariffs Head to the Supreme Court
In this episode of The Deduction, we unpack Trump’s tariffs as they head to the Supreme Court. We break down scenarios if the Court upholds or strikes the tariffs, who really pays, and how Congress might respond—your concise guide to tariffs and the Supreme Court.
2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index
The State Tax Competitiveness Index enables policymakers, taxpayers, and business leaders to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much state governments collect in taxes, the Index evaluates how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.
122 min read
2025 Spanish Regional Tax Competitiveness Index
The 2025 Spanish Regional Tax Competitiveness Index allows policymakers and taxpayers to evaluate and measure how their regions’ tax systems compare.
7 min read
Federal Tax System Remains Highly Progressive After the OBBBA
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) simultaneously increased tax progressivity and decreased redistribution in the tax code. Our estimates suggest the OBBBA similarly combines a more progressive tax system with a lower degree of tax redistribution.
4 min read
The Chronic Disorder of Ever-Expanding Healthcare Subsidies
Amidst a government shutdown, healthcare subsidies have metastasized into a major threat to the nation’s fiscal and economic health.
International Tax Competitiveness Index 2025
While there are many factors that affect a country’s economic performance, taxes play an important role. A well-structured tax code is easy for taxpayers to comply with and can promote economic development while raising sufficient revenue for a government’s priorities.
93 min read
The Unaffordable Healthcare Subsidies That Led to a Government Shutdown
The fiscal fight that resulted in the current federal government shutdown is, at its core, about the healthcare sector, spiraling healthcare costs, and federal subsidies.
7 min read
Federal Revenue and Distributional Impacts of Limiting the Tax Exclusion for Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Premiums
Policymakers are considering ways to extend the enhancements made to Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that expire at the end of the year, which could cost $350 billion over the next decade. Any expansion of the credits should be offset by reducing other healthcare subsidies or preferences in the tax code, the largest of which is the exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) premiums, estimated to cost more than $5 trillion over the next decade due to reduced income and payroll tax revenue.
10 min read
2026 Tax Calculator: How the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s Tax Changes Will Affect You
How will recent federal tax changes affect you?
4 min read
Blog
Short FormUnderstanding Debt, Deficits, and Interest
The US national debt is on an unprecedented and unsustainable trajectory that will require ever-greater borrowing and larger interest payments on what is borrowed. These interest payments will, in turn, consume a larger part of the budget, and all Americans will pay the price.
4 min read
Financial Ruin? Why Losing IEEPA Tariff Revenue Won’t Change the Long-Term US Fiscal Trajectory
The US fiscal trajectory is on an unsustainable path over the next 35 years, regardless of whether the IEEPA tariffs are struck down or maintained.
3 min read
Is the One Big Beautiful Bill a Step Back for Tax Simplicity?
In this episode of The Deduction podcast, host Kyle Hulehan discusses the complexities of the US tax system with Alex Muresianu, Senior Policy Analyst at the Tax Foundation.
Blog
Short FormThe Progressivity of the US Tax Code
Since the inception of the modern federal individual income tax in 1913, the US tax code has generally become more progressive, not less. Will the recent tax changes made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) alter this?
4 min read
US Effective Tax Rates Remain Highly Progressive, Despite Some Economists’ Claims
Targeting wealth at the top through higher taxes has a certain appeal, but it also comes with a lot of drawbacks, including increased avoidance and reduced incentives to invest.
6 min read
One Big Beautiful Bill Act Makes the Individual Income Tax More Complex
While the OBBBA brings some stability by making many of the TCJA’s reforms permanent, it generally fails to reform the tax code’s accumulating complexity.
31 min read
The Big Beautiful Bill’s Impact on State Taxes, Explained
Congress may have passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), but state lawmakers now face big choices. Most states link their tax codes to the federal system, meaning OBBBA’s provisions—good and bad—are about to ripple across state budgets.