Tax

Alice Rivlin, who died yesterday at age 88, was a policy legend. She also was a kind, generous, and extraordinarily tough woman. Over more than half-century of work in Washington, she was friend and mentor to hundreds of policy experts, journalists, and public officials. The depth of her resume as a public servant may have…

Pass-through businesses—businesses like sole proprietorships, S corporations, and partnerships that “pass” their income “through” to their owner’s income tax returns and pay the ordinary individual income tax—make up a majority of U.S. businesses. Marginal tax rates vary for pass-throughs depending upon the state in which they operate because of differences in how states tax individual…

President Trump’s increases in tariffs on imported goods from China and elsewhere are effectively reversing a big chunk of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. For many low- and middle-income consumers, Trump is eliminating most or all of the benefits of TCJA. How? Because the tariffs could increase the price of consumer goods by as…

Like many states, Arizona is contemplating how to integrate peer-to-peer car-sharing arrangements into the state’s tax code. This session, the state legislature contemplated two proposals to regulate and tax peer-to-peer car sharing. Policymakers have an opportunity to clarify the tax treatment of peer-to-peer car-sharing firms and hosts while preventing the extension of discriminatory car rental…

The U.S. House of Representatives will soon consider the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019, introduced by House Ways and Means chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) and cosponsored by a bipartisan cohort. The Senate Finance Committee has introduced a similar bill, the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019, but has…

With less than a month remaining in the legislative session, some Connecticut lawmakers want to go bold, eliminating the income tax for many taxpayers and replacing it with a new payroll tax. And while it has the support of some key legislators, many important details have yet to be worked out. The proposal seems straightforward…

Pass-through businesses are the dominant business structure in America. Pass throughs file more tax returns and report more business income than C corporations. Pass-through businesses are not subject to the corporate income tax, but instead report their income on the individual income tax returns of owners. This blog will address some frequently asked questions about…

Do you consider not paying taxes “sport?” The President of the United States says he does. And that raises serious concerns about the stability of our voluntary tax system. The New York Times reported yesterday that between 1985 and 1994, Trump told the IRS his businesses had racked up $1.17 billion in losses and, thus,…