National Economic Council chair Larry Kudlow reportedly wants the IRS to redefine capital gains to include only returns from the sale of assets in excess of inflation. Were it feasible, it would make sense to measure all income and expense in real terms. But indexing capital gains alone by executive fiat would make no sense. It would cut capital gains taxes by up to $20 billion a year for the richest Americans and open the door to a raft of new, inefficient tax shelters. And it would do all this without the approval of Congress.

A new paper and brief explore how estate and inheritance taxes (or wealth transfer taxes) affect entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs. It is a contentious issue...

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) limits the itemized deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) on federal individual income tax returns to $10,000...

The centerpiece of the new tax law is a cut in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Proponents promise the lower rate will bring jobs and investment to the United States and boost economic growth significantly.

The individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) looks like it may survive yet another tax overhaul. But the latest incarnation of the tax may look very...

Congress is rushing to rewrite the tax code before Christmas. True tax reform would be a wonderful present for America, but the current tax bills...

Yesterday my twitter feed exploded with cranky tweets about White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders’s press briefing, which started with an anecdote about bar tabs...

The GOP tax reform proposal may limit contributions to traditional 401k plans, while continuing to allow contributions to Roth accounts. It is borrowing in disguise--intended to skirt the borrowing limits in the congressional budget resolution--and may also undermine workers' retirement security.

While the Unified Framework announced by the Trump Administration and Congressional leadership last month would not repeal the home mortgage interest deduction (MID), other provisions...

The Trump Administration and key congressional Republicans have proposed repealing the itemized deduction for state and local taxes as one way to help pay for...

When the middle class was suffering from the ravages of the Great Depression, demagogues of the right and left blamed easy scapegoats and offered populist...

President Trump’s tax reform announcement tomorrow reportedly will include a 20 percentage point cut in the top corporate income tax rate— from 35 percent to...

I intended to write a completely different post about how repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would undermine Medicare’s finances. My story was half right:...

The House Republicans’ proposal for a border-adjustable tax (BAT)—a levy that would apply to imports but not exports—is causing a lot of consternation among retailers...

I am delighted to announce that Mark Mazur will replace me as the Robert C. Pozen Director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, beginning on...

Donald Trump’s proposal to slash tax rates on unincorporated businesses would create huge incentives for income tax avoidance and evasion, and his own behavior illustrates...

While testing TPC’s cool election tax calculator , I was surprised to see that some high-income singles could pay more income taxes under Donald Trump’s...

The Tax Policy Center, with the help of the Penn-Wharton Budget Model (PWBM), found that in the short-run Hillary Clinton’s tax increases would slow the...

Republican presidential contender Donald Trump often expresses dismay about the US trade deficit, which he ties to the loss of good paying middle class jobs.

The 2016 Republican Party platform demands that Congress impeach and convict Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen. His “high crimes and misdemeanors” primarily consist...

Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist Senator from Vermont, surprised almost everyone by waging a very strong campaign for President. However, it is now clear to...

Yesterday, GOP presidential hopeful John Kasich told The Washington Post editorial board that he should be elected because he is the candidate of...

Welcome to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center’s new website. We hope you will enjoy using our new site and find it a valuable tool with which to...

In a few weeks, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center will launch our new website. Starting today, the site is running in “beta,” and we invite you...