Stock buybacks have gained a bad rap in recent years as policymakers have blamed them for a range of economic ills, from encouraging a focus on short-term profits to reduced investment. Now, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) have targeted buybacks for a 2 percent excise tax in the reconciliation package. But research […]
The Biden administration has proposed several tax increases on businesses, whether structured as C corporations subject to the corporate income tax or passthrough entities such as S corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships that are subject to the individual income tax. It is important to remember that those business taxes ultimately fall on people, including business […]
Some of President Biden’s tax proposals, such as taxing unrealized capital gains at death, are specifically aimed at reducing wealth inequality. Indeed, it is commonly asserted that wealth inequality is too high and rapidly growing over time. However, new research from Federal Reserve Bank of Boston economists suggests wealth inequality has grown less than previously […]
A new report from ProPublica argues that wealthy taxpayers face low effective tax rates as a portion of their wealth and mentions taxing unrealized capital gains or imposing a wealth tax. However, a better approach to raising the tax burden on the wealthy would be to pursue progressive consumption taxes as they have fewer administrative […]
Table of Contents Key Findings There are two layers of tax on investment income. First, corporations pay the corporate income tax on their profits. Second, shareholders pay an income tax on the dividends they receive (dividends tax) and capital gains they realize (capital gains tax). On average, in the OECD, long-term capital gains from the […]
Many countries’ personal income tax systems tax various sources of individual income—including investment income such as dividends and capital gains. Today’s map shows how dividend income is taxed across European OECD countries. A dividend is a payment made to a corporation’s shareholders from corporate after-tax profits. In most countries, such dividend payments are subject to […]
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President Joe Biden’s American Family Plan will likely include a large increase in the top federal tax rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends, from 23.8 percent today to 39.6 percent for higher earners. When including the net investment income tax, the top federal rate on capital gains would be 43.4 percent. Rates would […]
Was this page helpful to you? Thank You! The Tax Foundation works hard to provide insightful tax policy analysis. Our work depends on support from members of the public like you. Would you consider contributing to our work? Contribute to the Tax Foundation Share This Article! Let us know how we can better serve you! […]
A year ago, it seemed possible that New Hampshire was headed toward a triggered tax increase. Instead, lawmakers may trim business tax rates and begin the phaseout of the state’s tax on interest and dividend income, which would take away the asterisk and make New Hampshire the ninth state to forgo an individual income tax […]