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...

  • New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio delivers remarks at his 2018 Inaugural Ceremony at City Hall in Manhattan, New York

    Bill de Blasio Calls for a Robot Tax

    By Yuval Rosenberg

    In a piece for Wired , the peripatetic New York mayor and Democratic presidential candidate warns that “automation in our economy is increasing far faster than most people realize, and its impact on...

  • U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin discusses the Trump administration's budget plan during the Peterson Foundation's 2017 Fiscal Summit in Washington

    Mnuchin Talks More Tax Cuts

    By Michael Rainey

    Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that a White House push for another round of tax cuts is a possibility in 2020. “And regards to a middle-class tax cut, you know, we’ll be looking at tax...

  • Mark Sanford speaks at the LPAC conference in Chantilly, Virginia

    Trump Gets a Fiscally Focused Challenger

    By Michael Rainey

    Mark Sanford announced Sunday that he is running for president, becoming the third Republican to challenge President Trump for the nomination in 2020. The former South Carolina congressman said he...

  • Op-Ed of the Day: Fighting the Next Recession Now

    By The Fiscal Times Staff

    Jason Furman, the former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama, has some advice for Congress: Start preparing for the next recession now. In a Wall Street...

  • U.S. President Trump presents Presidential Medal of Freedom to NBA Hall of Famer West at the White House in Washington

    Does Trump Have an Agenda for 2020 Besides Winning Re-election?

    By Yuval Rosenberg

    In a tweet earlier this week, President Trump urged the Democratic-controlled House to move past what he calls “witch hunt” investigations and “get back to work on drug prices, healthcare,...