Taxes

Are the Tax Cuts Paying for Themselves?

By Michael Rainey

The Heritage Foundation’s Stephen Moore, a longtime supply-sider who advised President Trump during the 2016 campaign, argues in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal that “the corporate tax cut is paying...
Federal Tax System Becoming More Progressive: Report

By Michael Rainey

The U.S. tax system has become more progressive in recent years, says Eric Toder of the Tax Policy Center, thanks to real income growth and changes in federal policy. While the tax cuts passed last...
‘Beware Trillion-Dollar Deficits,’ Barron’s Says

By Yuval Rosenberg

In the latest Barron’s cover story, Jack Hough warns of the long-term risks of rising U.S. public debt. While noting that there’s little chance of hitting debt-related turbulence anytime soon and...
Buybacks Are Now the Top Way for Companies to Spend Their Cash

By Michael Rainey

Stock buybacks are now the most popular way for S&P 500 companies to spend their profits, the first time that’s happened in 10 years, Goldman Sachs said in a research note Friday. Buybacks surged...
Kudlow: ‘I Don’t Buy’ That Tax Cuts Boosted Deficit

By Yuval Rosenberg

Larry Kudlow is at it again. Speaking at the Economic Club of New York, the top economic adviser to President Trump said that, while the administration is looking to cut federal spending — including...

Why Trillions in Offshore Profits May Stay Offshore

By Michael Rainey

The tax law that went into effect this year imposed a one-time, reduced tax on profits held overseas by U.S. companies. The tax holiday was designed to encourage corporations to bring money home, to...
Tax Cuts Put the Brakes on Bracket Creep

By Michael Rainey

Receipts from individual income taxes tend to rise every year due to what economists call “bracket creep” – the movement of more taxpayers into higher tax brackets over time, even as tax rates stay...
Social Security Pulled 27 Million People Out of Poverty in 2017

By Michael Rainey

Since 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau has produced a more sophisticated measure of poverty that, among other things, includes the income effects of government assistance programs such as Social Security...
House to Considers Billions in Cuts to Obamacare Taxes

By Michael Rainey

In addition to a package of bills that would make the individual tax cuts permanent , the House is expected to consider legislation this week that would delay or roll back multiple tax provisions in...
Is Joe Scarborough Right About the GOP and the National Debt?

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Former GOP congressman and current Trump antagonist Joe Scarborough laid into the president and his party this week, finding fault with, among other things, their track record on deficit spending. "...

Business Economists Diss Trump’s Policies

By Yuval Rosenberg

Business economists are less than bullish on the effects of President Trump’s economic policies. A semiannual survey by the National Association for Business Economics found that: Tariffs are hurting...
Is This an Economic Boom or Just a Blip?

By Michael Rainey

Most mainstream economists think the booming GDP growth recorded in the fourth quarter will ease toward the end of the year, but President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow says...
Why Pensions Are the Hot New Tax Shelters

By Michael Rainey

Traditional pension plans are being used by some doctors, lawyers and other wealthy small business owners to shield hundreds of thousands of dollars in income from taxes, Bloomberg’s Ben Steverman...
How the Tax Cuts Could Raise Wages – and Why They Might Not

By Michael Rainey

Wages don’t seem to be rising in the wake of the corporate tax cuts that went into effect this year, and many critics of the GOP tax overhaul say there’s little reason to think they will. But the...
Are Tax Revenues Really Rising?

By Michael Rainey

A Wall Street Journal editorial this past weekend took aim at the idea that the Republican tax cuts have much to do with rising deficits. “Perhaps you’ve read that the federal budget deficit is...