Taxes

After Trump’s Cuts, US Taxes Are Fourth Lowest in the Developed World

By Michael Rainey

Total U.S. taxes as a share of the economy fell to 24.3% last year, thanks in large part to the tax cuts signed into law by President Trump in 2017, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and...
Biden Unveils $3.2 Trillion Tax Plan Targeting Corporations Like Amazon

By Yuval Rosenberg

Joe Biden rolled out a plan Wednesday to raise $3.2 trillion in additional taxes over 10 years, with the wealthy and corporations paying more to cover the cost of spending proposals on health care,...
Bad News for Charity on Giving Tuesday

By Michael Rainey

“Despite Giving Tuesday and despite all the charitable appeals that almost certainly landed in inboxes, charitable donations by individuals declined by slightly more than 1 percent in 2018, according...
Only One Demographic Group Opposes Warren’s Wealth Tax

By Yuval Rosenberg

The idea of a wealth tax like the one proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren is popular with a broad swath of voters, Ben Casselman and Jim Tankersley of The New York Times report . A new nationwide poll...
Chart of the Day: Record Low Poverty Rate

By Michael Rainey

The extensive array of government assistance programs — including Social Security, unemployment insurance, veterans’ benefits, nutritional aid, rental assistance and the Earned Income Tax Credit —...

Public Investment Is the Key to Avoiding Economic Stagnation: Report

By Michael Rainey

Economic stagnation on a global scale is a growing threat, according to a new report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The group’s November economic outlook...
Pushing Back Against the Wealth Tax at the Dem Debate

By Michael Rainey

Sen. Elizabeth Warren defended her proposed wealth tax at the Democratic presidential debate on Wednesday night: “I’m tired of freeloading billionaires,” Warren said . “I think it's time that we ask...
Democrat's New Taxes Wouldn't Hit Just Billionaires

By Michael Rainey

Some Democratic tax proposals are focused on making millionaires and billionaires pay more, but other households would be affected as well. Neil Irwin of The New York Times points out Tuesday that...
An Easy Way to Get $1 Trillion More in Tax Revenue?

By Michael Rainey

The first step in reforming the U.S. tax system doesn’t involve raising rates or eliminating deductions, say former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Penn Law professor Natasha Sarin. Instead,...
FedEx Battles New York Times Over Trump’s Tax Cuts

By Michael Rainey

The New York Times published a piece Saturday highlighting the huge windfall FedEx received from the 2017 GOP tax cuts — and the company’s CEO isn’t happy with the analysis. According to the Times,...

2019 Deficit Was Just Under $1 Trillion, Highest in 7 Years: CBO

By Yuval Rosenberg

The federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2019 grew to $984 billion, or 4.7% of GDP, the highest since 2012, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on Monday. The total for 2019 is 26% higher...
The Incredible Shrinking Tax Rate for the Rich

By Michael Rainey

The highest-income households in the U.S. have seen an enormous reduction in their overall tax burdens since 1950, a development highlighted Sunday by The New York Times’ columnist David Leonhardt,...
Would a Warren/Sanders Wealth Tax Kill the Economy?

By Michael Rainey

As Democratic presidential candidates debate a variety of new social programs, from universal health care to free higher education, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are calling for a wealth tax to...
IRS: Sorry, but It’s Just Easier and Cheaper to Audit the Poor

By Paul Kiel, ProPublica

The IRS audits the working poor at about the same rate as the wealthiest 1% . Now, in response to questions from a U.S. senator, the IRS has acknowledged that’s true but professes it can’t change...
Elizabeth Warren Wants to Tax Corporate Lobbying

By Michael Rainey

Elizabeth Warren released a proposal to tax companies that spend more than $500,000 a year on lobbying the federal government. The goal of the plan is to “end lobbying as we know it,” Warren said in...