Taxes

‘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. "...
‘Things Are So Much Worse’ – but Does Anyone Care About the Deficit?

By Yuval Rosenberg

As we told you yesterday , the Congressional Budget Office estimated this week that the deficit for the first 11 months of fiscal 2018 totaled $895 billion, or $222 billion more than it was over the...
Deficit Soaring in 2018

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The federal deficit was 32 percent larger in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2018 than it was during the same time period in 2017, the Congressional Budget Office announced Monday. The deficit...

Trump Puts Capital Gains Tax Break Back on the Table

By Michael Rainey

President Donald Trump told Bloomberg News Thursday that he is considering using his executive powers to index capital gains to inflation, a move that would provide a roughly $100 billion tax break...
The Economy Is ‘Doing Great.’ Can It Last?

By Michael Rainey

Economic growth in the second quarter was a bit stronger than previously estimated, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday. GDP grew at a 4.2 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, up...
Limit on SALT Deduction Isn’t Depressing Blue State Housing Values

By Michael Rainey

Housing prices continue to climb across the U.S., even in areas hit hardest by the new limitation on state and local tax deductions, Jim Tankersley of The New York Times reports . Many analysts...
Why Priming the Pump with Tax Cuts Means Higher Prices for Consumers

By Michael Rainey

More companies are raising prices, thanks in large part to the increase in demand driven by President Trump’s fiscal stimulus of tax cuts and increased federal spending. Higher demand for products of...
Is the Trump Economy Helping Ordinary Americans?

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump has touted the strength of the economy this summer, claiming that he “unleashed an economic miracle” by signing tax cuts into law and boasting that this "may be the best economy in...