As Congress considers President Biden’s proposal to tax unrealized capital gains at death, the history of previous efforts suggests it faces a perilous road ahead. Lawmakers must resolve tricky design and implementation details that derailed past attempts to change how capital gains are treated when assets are passed from one generation to the next. Under
Taxes
Kentucky and Tennessee won an important legal victory Friday when a federal court ruled that the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)’s restrictions on state fiscal autonomy were unconstitutional and enjoined (blocked) the enforcement of those provisions against both states. Specifically, Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove held that the ARPA provision, which limited states’ authority to cut
Key Findings Policymakers should carefully analyze tax expenditures before categorizing one as a loophole—some tax expenditures are important structural elements of the tax code while others are unsound. Generally, if a provision is broadly available and helps to eliminate the double taxation of saving, or broadly contributes to a consumption tax base, it is sound
Echoing other reports from this year, the White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) published a report Thursday that estimates an approximate average federal individual income tax rate for the top 400 wealthiest households in the U.S of 8.2 percent, lower than typically estimated for top earners. The CEA arrived at a lower tax rate
Corporate income tax rates have been declining around the world for the last two decades. Today’s map shows the most recent changes in corporate tax rates in European OECD countries, comparing how combined statutory corporate income tax rates have changed between 2018 and 2021. The average tax rate of all European countries covered has declined
Key Findings States have paid out $175 billion in unemployment benefits since the start of the pandemic, with the federal government providing an additional $660 billion. Taking debt into account, state trust funds now have a negative aggregate balance of -$11 billion and are $115 billion shy of minimum adequate solvency levels. States are authorized
Living paycheck to paycheck is stressful. You may struggle to pay the bills, be in debt, and not have any savings you can rely on in case of an emergency. Unfortunately, there are many people who are in your same position. One poll showed that 56% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and 48%
Note: Below is an excerpt of the 2021 Spanish Regional Tax Competitiveness Index (RTCI), a recent report published in collaboration with Fundación para el Avance de la Libertad. The RTCI for Spain is designed to analyze how well regions structure their tax systems, allows policymakers, businesses, and taxpayers to evaluate and measure how their regions’ tax systems compare,
Much has been written about the House Democrats’ proposal to increase tobacco and nicotine products taxes over the last week. The proposal, which would double the tax on cigarettes while taxing every other tobacco and nicotine product at comparable rates, would have significant implications on the availability of non-cigarette tobacco products. And the potential federal
The latest version of the Biden Build Back Better agenda, released last week by the House Ways and Means committee (see our estimates of the budgetary, economic, and distributional impacts), is dense, with too many provisions to flesh out completely. Here’s a rundown of the good, the bad, and the ugly of it. The Good
Under the House Democrats’ reconciliation plan, the top tax rate on pass-through business income would exceed 50 percent in most states. Pass-through businesses, such as sole proprietorships, S corporations, and partnerships, make up a majority of businesses and majority of private sector employment in the United States. The owners of these firms pay individual income tax on income derived from these
As Congress considers several tax proposals designed to raise taxes on high-income earners, it’s worth considering the distribution of the existing tax code. While the image that rich Americans pay little taxes is popular, it’s a misconception: high-income individuals already pay a large share of taxes, even when compared to their share of national income.