Tax Foundation Weighs 100 Tax Reform Options

The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank, has released a new ebook comparing the impact of 100 tax reform proposals.

Options for Reforming America’s Tax Code reveals how nearly 100 oft-proposed tax changes would affect federal revenue, jobs, tax burdens, and economic growth. The analyses rely on the same economic model used by the Tax Foundation to calculate the impact of each presidential candidate’s tax reform plans.

“During our experience with scoring the candidates, we learned that most lawmakers and their staff don’t have a full understanding of the mechanics of tax reform, the tradeoffs that must be made, and how different tax policies affect the economy,” said Tax Foundation president Scott Hodge in a statement. “This book provides policymakers with a full, three-dimensional view of the effects of each policy change. It explains the mechanics of tax reform, the dos and the don’ts.”

The report highlights the tradeoffs that lawmakers would have to make while developing tax reform plans and enables journalists to fact-check the claims that lawmakers make about their policy proposals. The options described are not necessarily the Tax Foundation’s favored policies, the group noted. Every option involves some tradeoffs.

“Each tax policy impacts the economy in unique ways, and people need to understand why. We want to break down misconceptions, and explain that not all cuts pay for themselves and not all hikes raise the revenue people think they will,” said Tax Foundation director of federal projects Kyle Pomerleau. “If tax reform is going to happen in 2017, it’s important that economic growth is a focus, and that it be based on economic research, not opinion. This book offers the foundation for that conversation.”

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