Taxes

Inside the Remarkable — and Costly — Decline of the IRS

By Michael Rainey

Weighed down by budget cuts and staff reductions, the number of audits performed by the Internal Revenue Service has been dropping for years. A new report from ProPublica and The Atlantic takes a...
Taking the Sting Out of a New Tax on Nonprofits

By Michael Rainey

Under the 2017 tax law, some churches, charities and other nonprofit organizations are being hit with a new tax on the value of transportation benefits provided to employees, including free parking...
The 3 False Claims Trump Repeats Most

By Michael Rainey

Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler analyzed President Trump’s voluminous record of false claims to determine which specific issues crop up most frequently. The top three have a strong fiscal...
Poll of the Day: Paying More, Less or the Same After the New Tax Law?

By Yuval Rosenberg

A new poll from The Economist and YouGov finds a sizable partisan divide in American’s perception of how the new tax law will affect their finances, with 67 percent of Democrats saying they expect to...
How Congress Got So Broken

By Yuval Rosenberg

More than 50 House members chose not to seek re-election in 2018, and a new report from nonprofit groups Issue One and the R Street Institute examines what drove so many to that decision. The report...

A Plea from the Left and the Right to End ‘Temporary’ Tax Breaks

By Michael Rainey

There aren’t many issues that the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute and the right-libertarian, Koch-funded Freedom Partners can agree upon, but putting an end to Washington’s annual ritual of...
Larry Kudlow Still Insists Tax Cuts Will Pay for Themselves, Deficits Will Fall 'a Lot'

By Yuval Rosenberg

Isn’t it time to admit that the tax cuts are not going to pay for themselves? Larry Kudlow, the director of President Trump’s National Economic Council, was asked that question Friday morning on CNBC...
Trump Promised Companies Would Bring Back Trillions. They Haven’t Yet

By Michael Rainey

Trillions of dollars in cash held by U.S. corporations overseas were supposed to come flowing back to the country as a result of the Republican tax bill, which provided a one-time lower tax rate on...
Chart of the Day: The Most Taxed Countries

By The Fiscal Times Staff

France is now the most heavily taxed developed nation, according to the latest annual review by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. French tax revenues rose in 2017 to the...
‘Read My Lips’: How George H.W. Bush’s Tax Hikes Changed Our Politics

By Yuval Rosenberg

The tributes to former President George H.W. Bush have focused on his life of service, his character, his sense of humor, his courage and his leadership. But as the nation mourns and celebrates the...

Your Tax Dollars at Work: An Agency ‘Neutered Through Neglect’

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Associated Press’ Juliet Linderman tells the story of Mark Robbins and the Merit Systems Protection Board, “a quasi-judicial federal body designed to determine whether civil servants have been...
Is Trump Serious About Tackling the Deficit? Obviously Not

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump is demanding that his advisers come up with a plan to reduce the deficit, The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey and Damian Paletta report . Oh, and President Trump is also pushing new...
Treasury Puts a Ribbon on the Estate Tax Reduction

By Michael Rainey

Wealthy families got an early Christmas gift from the Trump administration this week, as the U.S. Treasury Department issued a proposed rule that would encourage large, tax-free gifts to heirs. The...
Goldman Sachs Sees Sharp Economic Slowdown Ahead

By Michael Rainey

Goldman Sachs is sticking to its forecast of a significant economic slowdown over the next several quarters, driven in part by the waning effects from both the tax cuts and the recent increase in...
New Tax Brackets for 2019

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The IRS released its inflation adjustments for the 2019 tax year this week, which include new brackets and limits on deductions and exemptions. A few highlights: The standard deduction for single...