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. […]
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 […]
The International Tax Competitiveness Index has been used to compare the tax systems of OECD countries since 2014. At that time, the United States ranked 28th out of 36 countries in the Index. Following the 2017 tax reform, the rank improved dramatically, to 20th, and the U.S. now ranks 21st. The legislation put forward by […]
Preliminary Revenue and Economic Estimates Revenue (Trillions) Long-run GDP Wages FTE Jobs Source: Tax Foundation Taxes and Growth Model, September 2021. Democratic lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee have advanced legislation containing the tax elements of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. The draft legislation could be modified by the House Rules Committee […]
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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! […]
On August 23rd, Jared Bernstein and Ernie Tedeschi, two members of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, released a blog post arguing that the Biden administration’s spending agenda would help keep long-term inflation in check. Their theoretical argument is sound: in the long run, productivity enhancements should put downward pressure on prices. However, the major […]
Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department released a blog authored by Treasury officials Itai Grinberg and Rebecca Kysar. Though the blog purports to make a case for President Biden’s proposal to increase the current minimum tax on foreign profits of U.S. companies, its arguments rely on a very narrow interpretation of current law and the president’s […]
The Biden administration recently cited an analysis from Treasury claiming that “the President’s agenda will protect 97 percent of small business owners from income tax rate increases.” However, the figure is misleading. To assess the economic effect of higher marginal tax rates, it matters how much income or investment will be affected—not how many taxpayers. […]
On Wednesday, the Tax Policy Center (TPC) released estimates on the portion of households with no federal income tax liability, finding that in 2020, about 60.6 percent of households did not pay income tax, up from 43.6 percent of households in 2019. Much of the 2020 increase was due to pandemic-related factors, but the growing […]