Taxes

With inflation continuing to skyrocket, especially for food, which reached 10.4 percent in June, it is worth examining how the ongoing U.S. trade war with China and U.S. tariff policy overall has impacted U.S. agriculture and food prices. The economic literature shows that the U.S. import tariffs and subsequent retaliatory tariffs imposed by China and

Imagine a worker who gets a raise and ends up paying in tax the same amount as their raise. This is the case for a French worker who earns EUR 46,767. With an increase in pay of EUR 3,376, he would face a 93 percent marginal tax rate. This French worker will end up with

Key Findings Taxpayers reported nearly $12.1 trillion of total income on their 2019 tax returns. About 68 percent ($8.3 trillion) of the total income reported on Form 1040 consisted of wages and salaries, and 82 percent of all tax filers reported earning wage income. Retirement accounts such as 401(k)s and pensions are important sources of

The Senate has begun debate on the so-called Chips bill, which would provide $52 billion in grants and $24 billion in tax credits to supposedly strengthen the production of semiconductors in the U.S. If this measure passes, U.S. semiconductors will join wool, mohair, helium, soybeans, ethanol, steel, credit unions, and Amtrak as industries thought to

Student debt forgiveness has been at the forefront of recent federal policy discussions, with President Biden exploring using executive action to cancel up to $10,000 in student loan debt per borrower. Under current law, the tax code handles debt forgiveness differently depending on the borrower’s repayment plan—canceling student loan debt would have new, potentially complicated

Table of Contents Key Findings Forty-five states and the District of Columbia collect statewide sales taxes. Local sales taxes are collected in 38 states. In some cases, they can rival or even exceed state rates. The five states with the highest average combined state and local sales tax rates are Louisiana (9.55 percent), Tennessee (9.547

The Biden administration has proposed several changes to the U.S. international tax system that would raise taxes on multinational enterprises (MNEs). Similarly, the OECD’s tax proposals would raise taxes on MNEs. Together, the proposals would affect patterns of international investment and potentially decrease the volume of foreign direct investment (FDI). Under the tax proposals in

While the bulk of the proposed tax increases and spending programs remain under debate, Democratic lawmakers have reportedly agreed on prescription drug pricing provisions as a starting point for a revived Build Back Better package. Advocates of the drug pricing policy argue it would allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, but it amounts to government

Imagine a worker who gets a raise and ends up paying more in tax than their raise. This is the case for an Italian worker who earns just above the average wage. With an increase in pay of just EUR 448, he would face a 116 percent marginal tax rate. Therefore, despite the pay increase,

Over the past decade, policymakers from both parties in Harrisburg have proposed reducing Pennsylvania’s 9.99 percent corporate net income tax (CNIT) rate but could not agree on an approach—until now. With enactment of HB 1342 as part of the 2022-2023 state budget, lawmakers finally succeeded in cutting what had been the second highest state corporate

A pending tax ballot measure in Idaho may take the prize for gaffe-riddled drafting. Proponents had a straightforward goal: to create a new top marginal individual income tax rate of 10.925 percent on high earners. That is dubious enough, as it would create the highest rate between New York and California. But through a series of

You’ve heard the term capital gains tax. But what is that exactly? Is that something you pay? If so, when? Whenever you sell something — a house, car, company stock, or even gold or silver coins — you typically either make or lose money on the investment. That’s also referred to as a gain or

Key Findings Ten states enacted individual income tax rate reductions. Six states enacted corporate income tax rate reductions. Oklahoma became the first state to make permanent the full expensing of capital investments by C corporations in the year they made the investments. Two states permanently exempted groceries from their respective sales tax bases. Five states

Key Findings Over the past two years, a wave of tax reform has swept the country, with a historic number of states improving their tax competitiveness by reducing income tax rates and enacting flatter structures. Since 2019, Wisconsin has made improvements to its three lowest marginal individual income tax rates, but its top marginal rate

The European Union requires EU countries to levy a minimum excise duty of €0.36 per liter (US $1.55 per gallon) on gasoline (petrol). Today’s map shows that only Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland stick to the minimum fuel tax rate, while all other EU countries opt to levy higher excise duties on gas. The Netherlands has

On July 1st, Czechia assumed the rotating Council of the EU Presidency from France. The country will chair Council meetings and represent the Council in relations with other European Union institutions until the end of 2022. There are many tax-related files that remain in the legislative pipeline from the French Presidency that Czechia will need to

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 made several changes to the U.S. tax system to enhance competitiveness and discourage profit shifting to low-tax jurisdictions by U.S. multinationals. Among them were a new 10 percent minimum tax on companies with significant cross-border transactions (BEAT) and new tax rates on deemed intangible income (GILTI

Oklahoma lawmakers and Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) are at a standstill on efforts to secure tax reform in special session, but lawmakers did accomplish something important in the waning days of the state’s regular session—a national first for which the Sooner State deserves substantial credit. Full expensing—or the immediate write-off of all business investment—is now

Today’s map looks at the design of excise taxes for vaping and tobacco alternatives, which is important in the pursuit of harm reduction from smoking. Higher vapor taxes on products such as E-cigarettes could encourage vapors to go back to smoking cigarettes and will discourage cigarette smokers from switching to vaping products.  Since vaping entered

Mistakes happen Once you realize you made a mistake or forgot to include an important piece of information on your tax return, how you handle it depends on the situation. For instance, if you entered an incorrect Social Security Number (SSN) for yourself, your spouse, or a dependent, you need to fix it. If you