Housing affordability was a major issue even before the COVID-19 crisis and corresponding recession, but the current economic hardship has made it more salient. Immediate support for people struggling makes sense now, but lawmakers should also consider long-term solutions to the problem of high rents, namely by expanding the supply of housing. Improving the tax […]
As Canadian provinces increased their spending due to Covid-19 measures ranging from 0.2 percent of GDP in New Brunswick up to 6.5 percent of GDP in Quebec, their budget deficits ballooned. The economic and health crisis comes at a difficult moment for Canadian provinces as their pre-pandemic budgets were already running deficits. In early February, […]
On Thursday, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) released the Coronavirus Assistance for American Families Act (CAAF). This bill would change the way the economic impact payments—commonly known as recovery rebates or stimulus payments—could work in the next round of pandemic-driven relief for households. The bill’s […]
On July 21 the Brazilian government sent to its Congress the first stage of its proposed tax reform. The proposal includes unifying two levies on consumption, the so-called PIS and COFIN taxes, into a 12% value-added tax (VAT). Brazil has one of the world’s most complex tax systems. According to the World Bank while a […]
Today marked the release of both second-quarter GDP and national accounts data and provides a new glimpse into early changes in state and local revenues and spending. All told, second-quarter (Q2) state and local tax receipts came in about 3.8 percent lower than they did in the same quarter a year ago. Income and sales […]
Today, Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Martha McSally (R-AZ) introduced the CREATE JOBS Act (Cost Recovery and Expensing Acceleration to Transform the Economy and Jumpstart Opportunities for Businesses and Startups) that would make two significant changes to incentivize investment in the United States. The proposal would prevent scheduled changes that would worsen the tax treatment […]
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act, backed by Senate Republicans as their opening bid for “Phase 4” economic relief ahead of negotiations with Senate and House Democrats. Phase 4 relief is the anticipated follow-up legislation to the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, […]
Key Findings Allowing companies to fully and immediately deduct investments in structures is one of the most cost-efficient ways lawmakers can stimulate investment, create jobs, and boost GDP during a post-pandemic recovery. Changes to depreciation schedules in the two pieces of major tax legislation in the 1980s influenced investment in real estate and have since […]
Oxfam America has released a new publication purporting to show that 17 of the top 25 most profitable U.S. companies “are expected to make almost $85 billion more in 2020 super-profits compared to previous years.” Drawing from the recent work of Reuven Avi-Yonah, which was inspired by the World War II excess profits tax, Oxfam […]
Wisconsin, like every state, is experiencing a great deal of economic uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic. States will need to use caution as they make revenue and spending decisions amid the ongoing public health crisis, but tax policy can play a valuable role in a state’s economic recovery, and policymakers ought to give careful consideration […]