Taxes

Permanently Extending the Trump Tax Cuts Would Cost $4 Trillion Over the Next Decade

Permanently extending the Trump tax cuts would cost $400 billion per year and give the largest tax cut to extremely rich households.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Failed To Deliver Promised Benefits

Benefits of the business tax changes in Trump’s 2017 tax bill were costly and did not trickle down to workers and families.

Our aging and low-income workforce needs a broader tax break

In The Hill, Beth Almeida and Brendan Duke write about why the United States needs an expanded earned income tax credit.

Point: IRS Direct Simplifies Tax Filing, Saves Money

In "DC Journal," Jean Ross writes about the benefits of IRS Direct File.

The Schumer-Johnson Budget Deal, Explained

Under the tight caps in the budget agreement, Congress should be able to meet the nation’s highest priorities, but the federal government would provide a lower level of services and benefits than it did in fiscal year 2023.

Rebuilding the IRS Improves Customer Service and Reduces the Tax Gap

Funding from the Inflation Reduction Act helps ensure that the wealthy and large corporations pay what they owe and that customer service improvements continue.

Cryptocurrency Income Is Taxable Income

Tax laws apply to digital assets just like any other assets.

How Cities Can Take Advantage of Direct Pay

Please join the BlueGreen Alliance, the Center for American Progress, Lawyers for Good Government, and the National League of Cities for a virtual briefing on how cities, towns, and villages can take advantage of direct pay programs and tax credit bonuses.

Recent Health Savings Account (HSA) Expansion Proposals Are Costly and Misguided

New HSA proposals expand tax shelters for the wealthy while failing to address health care affordability challenges.

How Threats to IRS Funding Endanger America’s Fiscal Future

Please join Patrick Gaspard, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, in conversation with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Dr. Lawrence H. Summers on the importance of adequate funding for tax enforcement and administration to a healthy democracy.

How George W. Bush and Donald Trump broke America’s tax system

In an op-ed published by MSNBC, Bobby Kogan argues that tax cuts are the reason the federal deficit has grown despite a strong economy.

Point: Strong Prevailing Wage Standards Help Grow the Economy

In an InsideSources op-ed, Karla Walter argues why the Biden administration’s support of prevailing wage standards will help grow the middle class.

House Ways and Means Proposal Would Hurt Honest Tax Filers and Reward Tax Avoidance

Congress should extend and expand, not weaken, information reporting.

Maximizing the Benefits of Direct Pay for Clean Energy Tax Credits

To fully realize the potential of direct pay and maximize the deployment of clean energy tax credits, the Treasury and IRS must make the program as accessible as possible.

House Appropriations Committee Actions Threaten To Block a Public Option for Online Tax Filing

A hostile rider would bar efforts to create a no-cost filing option that would save taxpayers money.

House Bill Would Slash Business Taxes and Undermine Efforts To Stem Profit Shifting

A new House Republican proposal would cut business taxes, expanding the primary cause of the nation’s increasing debt ratio.

Biden Tax Proposals Would Correct Inequities Created by Trump Tax Cuts and Raise Additional Revenues

President Biden’s fiscal year 2024 tax proposal would impose new taxes on unearned income, while improving the child tax credit.

Bank Failures Highlight Need for a Strong and Independent CFPB

The CFPB faces legal and political challenges amid instability in the banking system.

Tax Cuts Are Primarily Responsible for the Increasing Debt Ratio

Without the Bush and Trump tax cuts, debt as a percentage of the economy would be declining permanently.

The ‘Fair Tax’ Act Would Radically Restructure the Nation’s Tax System in Favor of the Wealthy

The Fair Tax Act would replace federal income and payroll taxes with a national sales tax, slashing federal revenues and cutting taxes on the wealthy.

The Biden Administration’s First 2 Years: Stories of Americans Who Benefit From a Government Invested in Their Future

This collection features stories from Americans across the country whose lives and communities have benefited from the legislative and executive actions passed under the Biden administration.

Congress should prioritize families over corporate tax breaks

Jean Ross urges lawmakers to prioritize the child tax credit over corporate tax breaks.

Child Tax Credit Improvements Must Come Before Corporate Tax Breaks

To sustain recent reductions in child poverty, Congress should prioritize improvements to the child tax credit over corporate tax breaks in year-end tax negotiations.

What You Need To Know About Inflation and the Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act will help reduce costs, create jobs, and ensure corporations pay their fair share in taxes.

The Inflation Reduction Act: What It All Means

Please join the Center for American Progress for a multipanel discussion with OMB Director Shalanda Young, one of the key officials responsible for implementing the IRA, and everyday Americans about the Inflation Reduction Act and what it will mean for the United States and the American people.

5 Little-Known Facts About Taxes and Inequality in America

Rich Americans face the lowest payroll tax rates and benefit from skewed income tax deductions, loopholes, and rate preferences.

The Rental Housing Crisis Is a Supply Problem That Needs Supply Solutions

Policymakers must prioritize improving housing access and affordability for low-income households through immediate and long-term investments.

The Inflation Reduction Act Would Only Raise Taxes From Wall Street and Big Corporations

Contrary to critics’ claims, the Inflation Reduction Act would only increase taxes for large corporations and the wealthy while providing meaningful benefits for middle-income families across the country.

Numbers don’t lie: Ron Johnson’s tax scam was a raw deal for Wisconsin

Seth Hanlon urges Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) to support the Inflation Reduction Act and put the needs of Wisconsin families ahead of his own interests.

The Inflation Reduction Act Brings Down Costs and Boosts Energy Supply, Cutting Inflation and Making Historic Investments

The Inflation Reduction Act would solve mismatches between supply and demand at work in the U.S. economy, reducing inflation and strengthening the country’s long-term economic outlook.

Fact Sheet: How Closing a Tax Loophole That Benefits the Rich Would Strengthen Medicare

A key provision reportedly agreed to in the reconciliation bill would extend the Medicare trust fund by three years.

Extremist US Politicians Are Aiding and Abetting Autocratic Hungarian Regime

The extreme right brazenly supports Hungarian efforts to impede U.S. and European Union allied interests, subverting policies that would ensure corporations pay their fair share and sanction Russia for its Ukraine invasion.

Hearing on Tax Policy for Inclusive Economic Growth

Seth Hanlon testified before the U.S. House Select Committee on Economic Disparities and Fairness in Growth on evaluating tax fairness.

New Research Adds to Evidence That Opportunity Zone Tax Breaks Are Costly and Ineffective

Policymakers should enact commonsense reforms to opportunity zones to boost transparency and accountability, stem rising costs, and focus attention on communities most in need.

The Millionaire Surcharge Would Improve the Fairness of the Tax Code

Special carveouts are unwarranted and would create new ways for the ultrawealthy to game the system.

Tax Breaks for Retirement Savings Do Not Help the Workers Who Need Them Most

While retirement savings incentives—and those recently proposed in the SECURE Act 2.0—favor the wealthy, reforms should prioritize the low- and middle-income taxpayers most at risk of financial insecurity in retirement.

It’s time to end tax deductions for anti-union activity

David Madland writes about why Congress must prohibit firms from deducting the costs of their anti-union activities from their corporate taxes.

Building a Fairer Tax System With Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Building a Fairer Tax System With Sen. Elizabeth Warren

These 19 Fortune 100 Companies Paid Next to Nothing—or Nothing at All—in Taxes in 2021

Analysis shows that during a year of high corporate profits, many of the biggest corporations in America either paid minimal or no federal income taxes.

The best solution to high gas prices: tax the oil companies

Patrick Gaspard discusses why Congress should enact a temporary windfall profits tax on Big Oil to ensure these companies are not profiting from Russian's war in Ukraine.

As Energy Prices Skyrocket, Congress Must Return the Oil and Gas Industry’s Windfall Profits to the American People

Congress should enact a temporary tax on windfall profits from the oil and gas companies that are raking in record profits at a time of crisis-level energy prices.

Increased Wage Inequality Has Reduced Social Security’s Revenue

Rising economic inequality has pushed down Social Security’s revenues, but there are a few possible avenues to generating more revenue in order to preserve Social Security.

Budget Cuts Are To Blame for Tax-Filing Season Challenges

Congress must act now to improve customer service and close the tax gap.

The Biden Boom: Economic Recovery in 2021

President Joe Biden took office one year ago amid one of the worst economies in generations, but the U.S. economy has since made tremendous progress toward recovery, and workers are benefiting.

A Corporate Minimum Tax Would Ensure Large Corporations Begin To Pay Their Fair Share

The Build Back Better Act’s corporate profits minimum tax would make important progress toward fixing a broken tax code and ensuring that the largest and most profitable corporations pay their fair share.

The Build Back Better Act’s Investments in the IRS Will Substantially Reduce the Tax Gap

Treasury economists’ estimate that modernizing the IRS will net $400 billion in new revenue will not be reflected in official Congressional Budget Office scores of the bill, but the savings are real and could be even greater.

Build Back Better and OECD Corporate Tax Agreement Would Discourage Offshoring Jobs and Profits

Congress should enact the pro-worker international tax reforms in the Build Back Better framework.

3 Alternatives for Taxing the Capital Gains of the Very Wealthy

Three distinct systems could replace the stepped-up basis loophole. They differ significantly, but each would increase taxes on the rich and dramatically improve on the status quo.

4 Facts That Disprove Opponents’ Claims About Biden’s Tax Compliance Proposal

Under the proposal, the IRS will receive no detail on account holders’ transactions, and ordinary taxpayers will be less likely to be audited.

The Forbes 400 Pay Lower Tax Rates Than Many Ordinary Americans

A recent study finds that the Forbes 400 paid an effective tax rate of 8.2 percent over recent years—lower than many middle-class Americans.

The Build Back Better Agenda Boosts Productivity and Long-Term Economic Growth in Numerous Ways

A paper cited by critics of the Build Back Better agenda analyzes a different plan than what President Joe Biden has proposed and Congress is considering, and it ignores many positive effects of the actual plan.

The Build Back Better Act Would Greatly Lower Families’ Child Care Costs

The Build Back Better Act would ease a significant burden on middle-class families’ finances, lowering their child care costs by more than $100 per week in most states.

The House Ways and Means Build Back Better Bill Is a First Step Toward a Fairer Tax Code

The Ways and Means Committee’s tax reforms take important steps toward tax fairness; Congress should do more.

Bank Tax Reporting Is a Critical Component of Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda

Requiring more information from financial institutions will help catch and deter tax cheats while reducing audits of honest taxpayers.

Addressing Tax System Failings That Favor Billionaires and Corporations

Biden’s Build Back Better plan addresses key failings of the U.S. tax system that let the wealthy and corporations avoid paying their fair share; Congress can and should do even more.

The American Families Plan Taxes Billionaires and Protects Family Farms and Businesses

President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan closes tax loopholes favoring the superrich while protecting family farmers and small-business owners upon passing a farm or family business to the next generation.

It’s Time for a Workforce Disclosure Reset

The current moment demands that the SEC add specific human capital metrics to its current disclosure regime to provide investors, other market participants, and the public reliable, consistent, and comparable information about companies’ management of their workers.

Inflation and Making Ends Meet: Increasing Real Household Incomes

A temporary bump in inflation limited to a few items obscures the fact that policies such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) and the $3.5 trillion budget resolution would boost incomes for Americans.

A Pathway to Citizenship and Economic Growth Through Budget Reconciliation

A pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants benefits the U.S. economy as a whole—and it can be done through the budget reconciliation process.