Louisiana legislators passed a tax reform plan that has received overwhelming support in both the House and Senate, but voters will get the ultimate say on whether that plan succeeds. In light of this, it may be valuable to walk through what is included in these reforms and what effect the changes will have on taxpayers.
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The good news is that lawmakers avoided raising taxes to cover the cost of the new spending and instead used some reasonable fees and asset sales. The bad news is that half of the offsets come from unused, debt-financed COVID-19 relief funds and the economic return on many of these investments is questionable.
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Reducing the tax gap is, on the margin, a good way to raise revenue, but is not without costs. Policymakers should consider compliance costs for law-abiding taxpayers as well as administrative costs for the IRS when evaluating measures to reduce the tax gap.
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New Treasury Department data released on the advance Child Tax Credit payments shows the distribution by state, including how much, on average, households in each state received. The expansion will only be in effect for the 2021 tax year—if policymakers wish to continue providing the increased benefits, they must address the administrative and revenue costs of the policy.
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In 2020 and 2021, Congress enacted three rounds of economic impact payments (EIPs) for direct relief to households amidst the pandemic-induced downturn. Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that households increasingly saved their EIPs or used them to pay down debt rather than spend them.
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Amidst the outstanding questions, potential confusion over how advanced child tax credit payments will affect tax refunds, and an incomplete portal to update taxpayer information, the IRS will begin sending payments to millions of households this month.
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A question for policymakers to consider is how this new era of worker mobility will impact the fiscal landscape, and what changes must be made to address resulting revenue and compliance concerns.
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The redistribution of income from the Biden administration’s tax proposals would involve many winners and losers, not only across different types of taxpayers but also geographically across the country. Launch our new interactive map to see average tax changes by state and congressional district over the budget window from 2022 to 2031.
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Explore President Biden budget proposals, including tax and spending in American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan. See Biden tax and spending proposals.
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Taxes are once again at the forefront of the public policy debate as legislators grapple with how to fund new infrastructure spending, among other priorities. Our tax tracker helps you stay up-to-date as new tax plans emerge from the Biden administration and Congress.
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It took until the last day of the session, but Louisiana lawmakers succeeded in passing a tax reform package Thursday that would simplify a complicated tax code and make the state more economically competitive.
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In his first 100 days as president, Joe Biden has proposed more than a dozen significant changes to the U.S. tax code that would raise upwards of $3 trillion in revenue and reduce incentives to invest, save, and work in the United States.
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As Congress works to provide another round of emergency economic relief, it is a good time to step back and consider how tax policy affects entrepreneurs and small businesses.
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Policymakers should consider finding ways to simplify the administration of relief during future crises. This will help ensure the relief is timely and targeted, key components of any successful relief package for this crisis or crises in the future.
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The size and scope of the tax changes within the CARES Act created significant administrative challenges for the IRS. Lawmakers should prioritize simplicity in the next round of relief.
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Treasury released final regulations on the base erosion and anti-abuse tax (BEAT), which is meant to dissuade firms from engaging in profit shifting abroad. Other high-profile releases from 2019 include final regulations guiding enforcement of Section 199A, commonly known as the pass-through deduction; final regulations on enforcing the new tax on global intangible low-tax income (GILTI); and final regulations on state-level workarounds to the $10,000 limit on the state and local tax deduction (SALT).
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In the South Dakota v. Wayfair online sales tax case, the U.S. Supreme Court should ensure that state sales tax laws don’t burden interstate commerce.
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