This year, Congress will consider what may be the biggest tax bill in decades. This is one of a series of briefs the Tax Policy Center has prepared to help people follow the debate. Each focuses on a key tax policy issue that Congress and the Trump administration may address. This brief...
New information from the Congressional Budget Office allows an update of the fiscal outlook. While deficits are manageable in the short run, the debt-GDP ratio is already high relative to historical norms. Under “current policy,” we project the ratio will rise to 96 percent by 2027 and 154...
This essay is the tenth in a twelve-essay colloquium on the effect of low interest rates on the economy. To read other essays in the series, click here. The original version of this paper was...
The possibility of introducing a value-added tax (VAT) in the United States has been discussed on a sporadic basis for several decades. In this policy brief, which is based on Gale, Gelfond, and Krupkin (2015), we examine issues related to small business and entrepreneurship under a VAT. We also...
The possibility of introducing a value-added tax (VAT) in the United States has been discussed on a sporadic basis for several decades. This paper examines issues related to small business and entrepreneurship under a VAT. Section II discusses the basic mechanics of a VAT, including the...
This paper reflects on changes in tax policy in past decades and predicts how tax policy may change under a new president in 2017. The author examines the potential of implementing a carbon tax as a means to raise government revenue and reduce carbon gas emissions.
We explore issues related to a financial transaction tax (FTT) in the United States. We trace the history and current practice of the tax in the United States and other countries, review evidence of its impact on financial markets, and explore the key design issues any such tax must address. We...
After worsening sharply during the Great Recession, the long-term fiscal outlook generally improved through 2015, due to a combination of legislative acts and lower projected growth of health care spending. The same factors and the slow but steady economic recovery helped reduce short-term...
The massive financial market failures that led to the Great Recession have prompted renewed calls for a financial transaction tax (FTT) to discourage excessive risk taking and recoup the costs of the crisis. A well-designed FTT could raise up to about 0.4 percent of GDP ($75 billion in 2017) in...
Most years, the Tax Policy Center celebrates Valentine Day with a whimsical analysis of the costs and benefits—tax-wise—of marriage. What’s new this year is that...
Congress should eliminate the debt ceiling this year. It serves no useful purpose. It doesn’t contribute to fiscal discipline, and breaching it entails large, potentially,...
Recent analysis by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) shows the impact of several tax pieces included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The...
Debates about corporate income tax cuts follow a familiar script. Republicans claim that rank-and-file workers benefit . Democrats argue that affluent shareholders reap the gains...
Over the past three decades, the United States has gone from taxing roughly half of closely held business (that is, firms other than corporations) and...
The murder of George Floyd, in May 2020, sparked a national reckoning and renewed attention to issues of racial equity and justice. This long-overdue awakening...
As of this morning, yields on 10-year Treasury bonds stood at 1.33 percent. The yield on TIPS bonds–which are adjusted for inflation–was negative. These astonishingly...
Last week, Congress and President Trump enacted the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the largest aid package in American history...
The Congressional Budget Office just projected a series of $1 trillion budget deficits—as far as the eye can see. Narrowing that deficit will require not...
Martin Feldstein, who died earlier this week, was an intellectual giant who transformed modern public finance and tax policy analysis. He also was a kind,...
