Taxes

With corporate and individual rate hikes potentially out of the Build Back Better (BBB) reconciliation package, lawmakers are weighing alternative options to raise revenue. Rather than come up with complicated changes to the tax base, or untested proposals such as mark-to-market for billionaires, they should prioritize options that raise revenue while improving the structure of

On May 4th, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed legislation creating a 7 percent capital gains tax, to take effect next year. On November 2nd, Washington lawmakers will learn what voters think about it. Although the ballot measure asking voters to recommend on retaining or repealing the new tax is purely advisory, this gauge of voter

The 2021 version of the International Tax Competitiveness Index is the eighth edition of that report. Over the years, many different researchers at the Tax Foundation have worked on the report, several new members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have been added, and various methodological changes have taken place. One thing

Under the House Build Back Better Act, the average top tax rate on personal income would reach 52.3 percent, tying Sweden as the 9th  highest rate in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The House Build Back Better Act would raise the top federal marginal tax rate on ordinary income from 37 percent to 39.6

On November 2, in addition to electing various city council and school board members, Colorado voters will decide two important questions of state tax policy. Proposition 120 would reduce property tax assessment rates for two subclasses of property and require the state to spend up to $25 million a year, for up to five years,

President Biden and congressional Democrats have justified their plan to raise taxes on the rich to fund much of their $3.5 trillion spending by claiming that the tax code is not progressive enough. Yet a recent Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) analysis of the House Ways and Means tax plan undermines that thesis by showing

Elections in Louisiana are always different than in other states due to the two-round majority vote system and, in odd-numbered years, holding the first round of elections on a Saturday in October. This year there is an additional twist, with Hurricane Ida prompting a postponement of Election Day to November 13th. Also notable this year

The Biden administration’s proposal to require financial institutions to report inflows and outflows of more than $600 from bank accounts has attracted significant attention. The Treasury Department believes it could generate $463 billion in revenue over 10 years by giving the IRS more insight into certain types of income that members of the public often

Inflation is often called a hidden tax, but in many states it yields a far more literal tax increase as tax brackets fail to adjust for changes in consumer purchasing power. This phenomenon is called “bracket creep,” and it’s far creepier than the décor beginning to pop up in people’s front yards as we enter

Note: The following is the testimony of Daniel Bunn, Tax Foundation Vice President of Global Projects, prepared for a EU Parliament Subcommittee on Tax Matters hearing on October 11, 2021, regarding the impact of national tax reforms on the EU economy. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Daniel Bunn, and I am Vice President

Two major provisions in the federal tax code have been limited since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017: the state and local tax (SALT) deduction and the home mortgage interest deduction (MID). Limiting the two provisions helped broaden the tax base, offsetting tax revenue loss from reduced tax rates. The limitations are

Under the House Ways and Means plan to raise taxes on corporations and individuals, the integrated tax rate on corporate income would increase from 47.4 percent to 56.6 percent—the third highest in the OECD. To reduce this burden, policymakers could explore integrating the individual and corporate tax systems. Several developed countries have done this to

Key Findings A typical American household with four cell phones on a “family share” plan, paying $100 per month for taxable wireless service, would pay nearly $300 per year in taxes, fees, and government surcharges—up from $270 in 2020. This year, wireless subscribers will pay approximately $11.3 billion in taxes, fees, and government surcharges to

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) now estimates that the federal government received $370 billion in corporate tax revenue over the past year (fiscal year 2021), matching the record high level from 2007. This is a 75 percent increase over the previous year’s total, reflecting a rebound in corporate profits and the broader economy. This year’s

In 2019, revenue from personal income taxes made up 24 percent of total tax revenue across OECD countries. Countries tax labor income in various ways through payroll taxes, personal income taxes, and, in some cases, surtaxes. Between 2018 and 2021, eight European countries in the OECD changed their top personal income tax rates. Of these eight countries, four cut their

Recent proposals to increase the effective tax rates (ETRs) faced by multinationals rely on the argument that these firms achieve artificially low tax rates by shifting profits to foreign tax havens and other low-tax countries. By raising the tax rates on the foreign income of U.S. multinationals, these proposals would supposedly reduce profit shifting. However,

Following the release of the House Democrats’ proposed Build Back Better Act, federal tobacco and nicotine taxation has been a hot topic in the United States. In an effort to raise roughly $100 billion, the House proposal would double cigarette taxes and increase all other tobacco and nicotine taxes to comparable rates—a strategy with severe

Note: The following is the testimony of Dr. William McBride, Tax Foundation Vice President of Federal Tax and Economic Policy, prepared for a Joint Economic Committee hearing on October 6, 2021, titled, “Building Back Better: Raising Revenue to Invest in Shared Prosperity.” Chairman Beyer, Ranking Member Lee, and members of the Joint Economic Committee, thank you for

A recent Tax Foundation analysis considered how various proposals from the Biden administration, from Congress, and from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development would affect the effective tax rates (ETRs) on the foreign profits of U.S. multinationals. That analysis focused on how each policy and proposal would affect the overall ETRs. But which industries

Over the course of the last year, it has become clear that Democratic lawmakers want to change U.S. international tax rules. However, as proposals have surfaced in recent weeks, there are clear divides among various proposals. While President Biden has led a renewed effort on global negotiations over minimum taxation, his own proposals for U.S.