The debt limit—or the “debt ceiling”—is the legal maximum on how much debt the federal government can accumulate. It is set by Congress and requires...
Five major COVID-19 fiscal relief measures were enacted in 2020 and 2021 by the federal government (table 1). During the Great Recession, the American Recovery...
Overall, federal income taxes are progressive: people with higher incomes pay a larger share of their income in taxes than those with lower incomes. This...
Like all other residents, immigrants of all legal statuses are required to pay income, payroll, property, sales, or other taxes throughout the US. For example,...
Low-income and some middle-income taxpayers can file their tax returns for free at local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites. In coordination with the IRS,...
In the early 1960s, the IRS operationalized its first computer—an IBM 7074—to centralize data collection. Although, like the rest of the world, the IRS has...
The goal of IRA’s 10-year budget boost is to improve the IRS’s ability to administer the federal tax system efficiently, effectively, and fairly. The unique...
The Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law on August 22, 2022. The bill implemented several clean energy tax breaks for businesses investing in solar,...
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Pub. L. No 116–136, 134 Stat...
Retirement plans are generally classified either as defined benefit or defined contribution. A cash balance plan is, technically, a defined benefit plan, because it pays...
Tax incentives reduce the after-tax cost of owner-occupied housing at any given level of housing prices. The most well-known example of a housing tax incentive...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) dramatically changed tax subsidies for homeownership by raising the standard deduction, placing a cap on the...
In the United States, as in many countries, wealth inequality has grown over several decades. According to the Federal Reserve Board, the share of net...
Economic Depreciation Economic depreciation represents the decline in an asset’s market value over time. Economic depreciation of tangible assets occurs from wear and tear, lower...
The tax is calculated as 15 percent of adjusted financial statement income, which is different than taxable income. A taxpayer is only liable for the...
Base erosion and profit-shifting refers to strategies developed by large multinationals to shift profits from high-tax to low-tax countries or tax havens. Companies use deductible...