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. "...

Economic Growth Gets a Downgrade

By Michael Rainey

The Congressional Budget Office reduced its estimate for the growth rate of the U.S. economy in 2018 to 3.1 percent, down from its estimate of 3.3. percent in April. The CBO’s estimate for 2019...
The Tax Cuts Aren't Popular, So the GOP Is Talking About This Instead

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Republicans have found that their key legislative accomplishment in the last two years, the tax cuts passed in December, aren’t nearly as popular as they had hoped they would be, and the AP reports...
Who Gets the 20% Pass-Through Tax Break?

By Michael Rainey and Yuval Rosenberg

The Treasury Department released a 184-page set of guidelines Wednesday seeking to clarify just who gets to claim the new 20 percent tax deduction on pass-through business incomes. Overall, the rules...
Extending Tax Cuts and Spending Hikes Would Raise Debt to Record Level by 2029: CBO

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Congressional Budget Office, in its long-term outlook released in June, projected that federal debt held by the public would increase sharply over the next 30 years, climbing from 78 percent of...
The Deficit Is Up 20% This Year

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The federal deficit was 20 percent larger in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2018 than it was during the same time last year, the Congressional Budget Office announced Wednesday. Revenues rose 1...