The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 allows owners of certain pass-through businesses (such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations) to take a new deduction. However, the structure of the deduction is complicated because its generosity depends on many factors, such as the nature...
The House and Senate just passed different versions of proposals to restructure the federal income tax. As of December 12, 2017, a House-Senate conference committee was reconciling the two bills. The bills reduce the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, introduce a preference for income from pass-...
Both territorial and worldwide systems for taxing income of multinational companies are difficult to implement because the concepts of income source and corporate residence on which the systems are based have become less economically meaningful. Recent legislation enacted by the House and Senate...
This brief documents how the US tax system treats the most common forms of equity compensation, including stock, restricted stock units, and stock options. In most cases, these forms of equity compensation are taxed just like cash wages, salaries, and bonuses. Employees pay ordinary income taxes...
Entrepreneurs create successful enterprises that generate substantial value through the innovations they introduce. They typically must wait many years before their firms generate net operating profits. The tax system favors entrepreneurial activity by allowing deferral of tax on the accrual of...
Distributional analyses play a prominent role in policy discussions. Both tax and transfer policy have important distributional consequences, but traditionally they have been examined separately. This report describes a new methodology for integrated distributional analysis that imports results...
Donald Marron, Institute Fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, testified before the US Senate Committee on Finance as part of the hearing "Business Tax Reform." Marron presented seven main points about business tax reform based on the proposals that have been discussed by the Congress...
The Trump administration has announced the broad outlines of a tax reform plan that contains many provisions similar to those in the House GOP tax reform “blueprint” announced last year, but there are fundamental differences in the provisions affecting businesses and investors. While different,...
This brief summarizes, individually and jointly, an excise tax on carbon and an expansion of EITC benefits to childless workers. We find that although in principle a carbon tax that lowers wages could affect EITC benefits and thus impact low-to-moderate income households, the likely magnitude of...
Navigating the New Pass-Through Provisions: A Technical Explanation
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 allows owners of certain pass-through businesses (such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations) to take a new deduction. However, the structure of the deduction is complicated because its generosity depends on many factors, such as the nature...
What Workers and Companies Should Know About the Republican Tax Bills
The House and Senate just passed different versions of proposals to restructure the federal income tax. As of December 12, 2017, a House-Senate conference committee was reconciling the two bills. The bills reduce the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, introduce a preference for income from pass-...
Territorial Taxation: Choosing Among Imperfect Options
Both territorial and worldwide systems for taxing income of multinational companies are difficult to implement because the concepts of income source and corporate residence on which the systems are based have become less economically meaningful. Recent legislation enacted by the House and Senate...
Slashing Corporate Taxes: Foreign Investors Are Surprise Winners
In this article, Rosenthal evaluates the benefit to foreign investors from lowering the corporate income tax rate.
This article was originally published by...
How Should Tax Reform Treat Employee Stock and Options?
This brief documents how the US tax system treats the most common forms of equity compensation, including stock, restricted stock units, and stock options. In most cases, these forms of equity compensation are taxed just like cash wages, salaries, and bonuses. Employees pay ordinary income taxes...
How Do We Tax the Income of Entrepreneurs?
Entrepreneurs create successful enterprises that generate substantial value through the innovations they introduce. They typically must wait many years before their firms generate net operating profits. The tax system favors entrepreneurial activity by allowing deferral of tax on the accrual of...
A Methodology for Integrated Distributional Analysis of Taxes and Transfers
Distributional analyses play a prominent role in policy discussions. Both tax and transfer policy have important distributional consequences, but traditionally they have been examined separately. This report describes a new methodology for integrated distributional analysis that imports results...
Business Tax Reform
Donald Marron, Institute Fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, testified before the US Senate Committee on Finance as part of the hearing "Business Tax Reform." Marron presented seven main points about business tax reform based on the proposals that have been discussed by the Congress...
Neutral Tax Reform with 15 Percent Business Income Tax Rate
The Trump administration has announced the broad outlines of a tax reform plan that contains many provisions similar to those in the House GOP tax reform “blueprint” announced last year, but there are fundamental differences in the provisions affecting businesses and investors. While different,...
Potential Linkages between a U.S. Carbon Tax and the Earned Income Tax Credit
This brief summarizes, individually and jointly, an excise tax on carbon and an expansion of EITC benefits to childless workers. We find that although in principle a carbon tax that lowers wages could affect EITC benefits and thus impact low-to-moderate income households, the likely magnitude of...