Economic effects of tax policy

The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act Reduced Tax Expenditures But By Much Less Than The 1986 Tax Reform Act

December 10, 2019 –

For years, tax reformers have advocated reducing marginal tax rates, broadening the tax base, and eliminating provisions that provide special benefits to select forms of...

Federal Budget and Economy

Government Trust Funds Are Selling America Short

December 3, 2019 –

Federal lawmakers have found many ways to shift the responsibility for today’s spending to tomorrow’s taxpayers. But among the most important is their habit of...

Federal Budget and Economy

Revisions To Revenue Projections Suggest That The TCJA Cost More Than Expected

November 5, 2019 –

Last week the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a letter that reviewed how its revenue forecasts have declined over the past two years. While we...

The TCJA Didn’t Change Child Benefits For Most Families With Children By Very Much

October 8, 2019 –

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) significantly changed how families with children were treated under the individual income tax, but for many - changed...

Federal Budget and Economy

How To Remake The TCJA Into Pro-Growth, Progressive Tax Reform

October 7, 2019 –

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) cut federal tax revenues by nearly $2 trillion over its first decade, with almost all the benefit going...

Individual Taxes

Anybody Can Itemize Their Deductions. But Most Don’t Want To

September 5, 2019 –

It is sometimes said that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) ended the ability of millions of taxpayers to claim itemized deductions, and...

Federal Budget and Economy

Forms and Follies: IRS Midcourse Corrections of Tax Forms

September 3, 2019 –

The great architect Louis Sullivan once wrote , “form follows function.” I can’t help but wonder if, in the less stable world of tax, new...

States Must Be Aware Of How Big Changes In Federal Law Affect Their Revenue Codes

August 19, 2019 –

All states with an income tax link to the federal tax system to some degree. This system of federal-state conformity helps taxpayers by standardizing the...