TaxVox

Repealing The SALT Cap Would Overwhelmingly Benefit Those With High Incomes

September 24, 2024 –

Former President Trump’s proposal to repeal the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction would cut 2025 taxes by an average of...

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Here’s A Tip: ‘No Taxes on Tips’ May Be Good Politics But Is Bad Policy

September 20, 2024 –

The bipartisan “no taxes on tips” proposal is the most prominent example of a politically attractive soundbite bumping aside sound policy.

Federal Budget and Economy

Only Grand Bargains Are Going To Get Us Out Of Our Gigantic Fiscal Mess

September 20, 2024 –

Campaigns and political party platforms provide limited policy details. That’s by design: especially in a campaign, politicians tend to accentuate what they will do for...

Federal Budget and Economy

What We Need To Know To Judge The IRS’s Effectiveness

September 20, 2024 –

The fate of a government agency’s funding is always precarious—and especially so for the Internal Revenue Service, one of the most unpopular federal agencies in...

A Tax Exclusion Is The Worst Way To Help Workers Earning Tips Or Overtime

September 20, 2024 –

Donald Trump would exempt overtime pay from tax. Kamala Harris and Trump both agree that tips should be exempt. There are lots of tax exclusions in the tax code, but this form of tax subsidy is especially costly, regressive, and prone to abuse.

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Exempting Tips From Federal Income Tax Would Benefit Very Few Workers

September 19, 2024 –

Only a handful of all employees and fewer than 60 percent of tipped workers would benefit from proposals to exempt gratuities from federal income tax,...

Individual Taxes

The Rich are Different From You and Me, with Trillions of Dollars Escaping Taxation

September 19, 2024 –

Trillions of dollars of unrealized capital gains permanently escape taxation, disproportionately benefitting the richest Americans. Congress could close this loophole.

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Harris Wants To Make Tax Filing Easier For Small Businesses

September 16, 2024 –

One of the most common tax complaints I hear from small business owners is about filing their taxes. Paying isn’t their biggest objection, though they...

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Harris and Trump Would Create Hyper-Narrow Targeted Tax Breaks

September 9, 2024 –

Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are promoting a troubling idea: Hyper-targeting tax subsidies to narrowly favored activities or occupations. While Trump and Harris are...

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Five Questions About Trump’s Made-in-America Corporate Tax Rate

September 9, 2024 –

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump recently proposed cutting the current 21 percent corporate tax rate to 15 percent for companies that do not outsource, offshore, or replace American workers. The Trump campaign has not yet indicated how this rate would be structured or enforced, but, drawing on past experience and research evidence, TPC staff below suggest some issues to consider.