Taxes
  • Taxes

Budget Battles

  • A security camera hangs near a corner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington

    Taxpayer Advocate: The IRS Needs More Funding

    By Michael Rainey

    National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins released her annual report to Congress Wednesday, and it came with a blunt message: Years of funding cuts have made it difficult for the nation’s tax and...

  • Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders speaks at the tenth Democratic 2020 presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston

    Democrats Plan a Major End Run Around the GOP

    By Michael Rainey

    You’ll probably be hearing a lot about “budget reconciliation” in the coming weeks, as Democrats work to pass a substantial spending package in the early days of the Biden administration. The term...

  • U.S. President-elect Biden speaks after meeting with transition coronavirus advisory board in Wilmington, Delaware

    Biden’s Agenda Gets a Boost With Democratic Control in Washington

    By Michael Rainey

    The Democratic sweep of the runoff Senate elections in Georgia may not have gotten as much coverage as the storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob Wednesday, but the results will have a powerful...

  • Stores all over Las Cruces close down temporarily due to Coronavirus concerns.Sign 1

    Reviving the Pandemic Economy

    By Michael Rainey

    With the U.S. economy headed for another slowdown as the coronavirus surges to record levels, The New York Times gathered a group of experts “to debate the priorities for economic policy in the...

  • The setting sun reflects off of the twin towers of Time Warner Center in the Manhattan borough of New York City, November 22, 2015. REUTERS/Rickey Rogers

    State and Local Tax Revenues Better Than Expected

    By Michael Rainey

    Many economists worried that local tax revenues would fall sharply in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, creating a long-lasting drag on the economy as payrolls shrank and public investment...

  • <p>Capital loss rules dictate that if you make a legitimate loan to someone with an official note, even if it’s your brother-in-law, you can write the money off if you don’t get paid back, up to $3,000 a year with a maximum of $10,000 total. Caveat: “If

    Most Americans Support Higher Tax on High Earners: Poll

    By Michael Rainey

    About two-thirds of Americans support President-elect Joe Biden’s proposal to raise taxes on households earning more than $400,000 a year while keeping taxes on those below that level the same,...

  • Some workaholics actually consider this the best day of the year (other than National Clean Off Your Desk Day). The holiday is celebrated annually; this year the day of festivities is March 23.

    A New Tax on Stay-at-Home Workers?

    By The Fiscal Times Staff

    A report funded by Deutsche Bank that examines the economic recovery from the pandemic suggests that people working at home should be taxed for the privilege of doing so, in order to pay for aid to...

  • A red traffic light stands in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington

    Election Results Signal Less Stimulus, More Gridlock

    By Michael Rainey

    Although the final numbers aren’t in yet, it looks like the 2020 election will deliver a divided Congress to whichever party claims the White House. Democratic hopes for a “blue wave” fell by the...

  • Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting at Chickasaw Event Center in New Hampton, Iowa

    Joe Biden’s Economy Czar

    By Michael Rainey

    Joe Biden has a vast team of advisers working on plans to boost the economy in the event that the former vice president wins the presidential election. While some are big names who served in the...

  • White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow speaks during a meeting of the Economic Club of New York in New York

    No Pre-Election Details on Trump’s Promised Tax Cuts

    By Michael Rainey

    Add President Trump’s second term tax plan to the long list of items that he will release at some point in the future. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Monday that while administration...

  • U.S. President Trump hosts Medal of Honor ceremony for Atkins at the White House in Washington

    Trump’s ‘Terrible’ New Tax Cut Idea

    By Yuval Rosenberg

    The Trump administration has been considering another tax cut that would primarily benefit the rich — and add about $100 billion to deficits over 10 years. The proposed change would reduce the taxes...

  • Who Isn’t Paying Income Taxes?

    By Michael Rainey

    Ten years ago, an economist at the Tax Policy Center calculated that 47% of Americans paid no federal income tax. That figure gained a degree of infamy in 2012 when presidential candidate Mitt Romney...

  • A Hanjin Shipping Co ship is seen stranded outside the Port of Long Beach, California, September 8, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo - RTSS0CF

    Number of the Day: $63 Billion

    By Yuval Rosenberg

    The U.S. Treasury collected $63 billion in tariffs over the 12 months through June up from about $30 billion a year before, The Wall Street Journal reports . Tariff revenue is on pace for $72 billion...

  • When the Social Safety Net Is a Smart Investment

    By Michael Rainey

    Social welfare programs in the U.S. are sometimes seen as expenses that lawmakers should attempt to minimize, but a new paper from two economists at Harvard University shows that some programs...

  • U.S. President Trump listens to reporters during bill signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington

    Is Trumponomics a Failure?

    By Michael Rainey

    The Republican tax cuts, combined with a big jump in government spending, produced a period of faster economic growth over the last year and a half, according to an analysis by Howard Gleckman and...