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Tax Reform
The current tax code is 20 years outdated and in desperate need of reform. The complexity of our tax structure, the high rates, and the double taxation within our tax code discourages work, savings, and investments. This poses a significant long-term threat to economic growth and a robust housing market.
Briefs
The Need for Pro-Growth Tax Reform
Background: President Donald Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made it clear before the November 2016 election that pro-growth tax reform would…
Read moreComprehensive Tax Reform
Background: Our current tax code is 20 years outdated and in desperate need of reform for a number of very important reasons. First, our tax…
Read moreBlog posts

Congress Piles Up Massive Debt, Putting Tax Cuts at Risk
By Adam Michel, Policy Analyst, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Fiscal restraint is dead in Washington, and no…

The Senate’s Ugly Budget Deal Would Trample on the Success of Tax Reform
By Adam Michel, Policy Analyst, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. The bipartisan budget deal to spend hundreds of billions…

Liberals Are Ripping Tax Reform Bonuses. But They Celebrated $40 Under Obama Tax Cut.
By Fred Lucas, White House correspondent for The Daily Signal. In late 2011, President Barack Obama’s White House promoted the hashtag #40Dollars to get the word out about…

A Tax Cut for America
By Edwin J. Feulner, Founder, The Heritage Foundation. Most of the gifts exchanged at this time of year are opened on Christmas Day. But this…

In 1 Chart, What’s in the Final Tax Reform Bill
By Adam Michel, Policy Analyst, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the…

5 Myths About Tax Reform, and Why They’re Wrong
By Adam Michel, Policy Analyst, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, and Rachel Greszler, Research Fellow in Economics, Budget and…

Families Across America Can Expect a Tax Cut
By Adam Michel, Policy Analyst, Thomas A. Roe Institute at The Heritage Foundation. Bold, pro-growth tax reform reached a major milestone last week. The House…

Improving the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: A Path for the Conference Committee
By Adam Michel, Policy Analyst, Thomas A. Roe Institute at The Heritage Foundation. The House and Senate each passed slightly different versions of the Tax…

Michael Needham on Bloomberg weighing the pros and cons of the Senate and House tax bills
Heritage Action for America CEO, Michael Needham, joins Bloomberg's "Balance of Power" to discuss the differences between the House and Senate tax reform bills on…

This Small Business Owner Doesn’t Want Handouts for Being a Woman in the Construction Industry. She Wants Tax Reform.
By Kelsey Harkness, Senior News Producer at The Daily Signal. SPRINGFIELD, Missouri—Mary Beth Hartman has never called herself a feminist. “But I do believe that…

Conservatives Push for 20% Corporate Tax Rate
By Rachel del Guidice, Reporter for The Daily Signal. Following a report suggesting the corporate tax rate in Republicans’ final tax reform bill could be higher than…

In Charts, How These 7 Taxpayers’ Bills Would Change If Tax Reform Were Enacted
By Rachel Greszler, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation. How will you fare if the GOP tax plan is enacted?…

The Differences House, Senate Will Have to Resolve to Advance Tax Reform Bill
By Rachel del Guidice, Reporter for The Daily Signal. Following the Senate’s 51-49 early Saturday morning vote to pass Republicans’ tax reform overhaul, the legislation will move to…

After Months of Inaction, Senate Republicans Must Seize Chance to Pass Tax Reform
By Mike Needham, Chief Executive Officer, Heritage Action for America. After nearly 11 months of careening from one disappointment to another, Congress is on the…

No, Republicans Are Not Leaving Small Businesses Behind
By Adam Michel, Policy Analyst, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. The Senate Finance Committee passed a version of the Tax…

Why Eliminating Obamacare’s Individual Mandate Should Be Part of Tax Reform
By Rachel Greszler, Research Fellow in Economics, Budget and Entitlements at The Heritage Foundation. Obamacare’s individual mandate survived the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling on the…

Q&A: Rep. Jim Banks Talks About the Benefits of Tax Reform
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., spoke to The Daily Signal’s Genevieve Wood earlier this month, before the tax reform bill passed the House, about how eliminating…

How the GOP Tax Bill Will Affect the Economy
By Parker Sheppard, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation, and David Burton, Senior Fellow, Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies…

Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to subsidize California’s spending addiction
By Dan Holler, Vice President, Heritage Action for America. Buried within the more than 74,000 pages of our nation’s tax code lies a special tax…

How Tax Reform Would Simplify Taxes for Tens of Millions
By Rachel Greszler, Research Fellow, Economics, Budget and Entitlements at The Heritage Foundation. Lawmakers have long championed a system that allows Americans to fill out…

5 Ways to Improve the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
By Adam Michel, Policy Analyst, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would provide tax…

PRESS RELEASE: HOUSE REPUBLICANS UNVEIL TAX REFORM PLAN
NOVEMBER 2, 2017 Washington — This morning, the House Ways and Means Committee released preliminary legislative text of a sweeping overhaul of America’s long outdated tax…

VIDEO: Dan Holler on FBN’s “Varney & Co.” talking about the GOP tax plan
Dan Holler, Vice President of Heritage Action for America, joined Fox Business Network Stewart to discuss tax reform on November 2, 2017. The House Ways and…

Small Business Owner in Trump Country Explains Why Tax Reform Will Help the 99%
By Kelsey Harkness, Senior News Producer at The Daily Signal. SEDALIA, Mo.—As Republicans prepare to unveil the details of their major tax reform proposal this…

How Keeping the Property Tax Deduction Could Backfire on the Middle Class
By Rachel Greszler, Research Fellow in Economics, Budget and Entitlements at The Heritage Foundation. On the eve of the release of their tax reform proposal,…

Keeping the Death Tax Would Make No Sense at All
By Kevin Dayaratna, Senior Statistician and Research Programmer, Center for Data Analysis, Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity at The Heritage Foundation, and Adam Michel,…

Why Adding a New Top Income Tax Rate Is a Bad Idea
By Rachel Greszler, Research Fellow in Economics, Budget and Entitlements at The Heritage Foundation. One of the most critical ingredients in “pro-growth” tax reform is lowering…

146 in Real Estate Industry Buck National Group by Backing GOP Tax Plan
By Rachel del Guidice, Reporter for the Daily Signal Nearly 150 real estate professionals from 34 states Monday urged congressional Republicans to pass their tax…

Here’s How We’re Making Real Progress Toward Tax Reform
By Senator Mike Lee, Republican from Utah. It’s not every day that good news comes out of Congress, but last week the United States Senate…

Deduction for State and Local Taxes Stunts Economic Growth, Group Warns
By Ian Snively, Member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. Congress should get rid of federal taxpayers’ deduction for state and local…

Here’s How the Tax Code Helps Rich Taxpayers in Big Government States Pay Less
By Jarrett Stepman, Reporter for The Daily Signal. As Congress works on tax reform, it is worth noting how politicians and interest groups use the…

Our Tax Code Rewards Bad State Policies and Favors the Wealthy. That Needs to Change.
By Rachel Greszler, Research Fellow in Economics, Budget and Entitlements at The Heritage Foundation. One of the many reasons we need tax reform is that…

It’s Time to Reform Our Tax Code. Let’s Do Something Historic.
By Paul Ryan, 54th speaker of the House of Representatives. Note: House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke at The Heritage Foundation on Oct. 12. The following…

Who Wins and Who Loses with Tax Reform?
By Genevieve Wood, Senior Communications Advisor and Senior Contributor, The Daily Signal. Let’s be honest, if the tax plan currently being debated in Washington becomes…

Some Say GOP Tax Plan Would Raise Taxes. Here’s What They’re Missing.
By Kevin D. Dayaratna, Senior Statistician and Research Programmer, Center for Data Analysis, Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity at The Heritage Foundation, Adam Michel, Policy…

This Critical Part of Tax Reform Would Help Liberate Small Businesses
By Sondra Clark, Managing Director of Communications and Grassroots at Heritage Action for America. Americans have always fostered a spirit of entrepreneurship. We take pride…

This Key Change Will Bring Money Pouring Back Into the US
By Sondra Clark, Managing Director of Communications and Grassroots at Heritage Action for America. President Donald Trump once called our tax code a “giant self-inflicted…

How the Current Tax Code Disfavors American Workers
By Scott Asbjornson, executive of AAON, Inc., an HVAC company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The U.S. tax code is 4 million words long, so it’s no surprise…

A Revised Tax Code Could Make Filing Your Taxes Much Faster, Cheaper
By Sondra Clark, Managing Director, Communications and Grassroots, Heritage Action for America. Keep it simple. This mantra of simplicity has been ignored for far too long…

PRESS RELEASE: Heritage Action Applauds GOP Tax Proposal
SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 Washington — Today, Republicans will unveil new details of a sweeping overhaul of America’s tax code. The plan would unleash economic growth, create…

Conservatives Encouraged by Republican Framework for Tax Reform
By Rachel del Guidice, reporter for The Daily Signal. Any tax reforms passed by Congress should give relief to middle class families and small businesses,…

A tax cut for all Americans
By Dr. Ed Feulner, founder and president of The Heritage Foundation. When you hear the phrase “corporate tax cut,” what do you picture? Middle-class workers, or…

Full Expensing and Meaningful Tax Reform
By Sutton Truluck, Research Assistant, Heritage Action for America. The Trump presidential campaign and congressional Republicans made numerous promises to Americans throughout the 2016 election…

VIDEO: Adam Michel on CNN to Discuss Tax Reform
Adam Michel, Policy Analyst, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, Appears on CNN's At This Hour with Kate Bolduan…

Trump’s September Budget Deal Could Move Tax Reform
By Romina Boccia, Deputy Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute at The Heritage Foundation. This week’s budget deal is fiscally irresponsible. But it just may have cleared the…

Cruz Highlights 7 Ideas for Tax Reform
By Rachel del Guidice, reporter for The Daily Signal. Sen. Ted Cruz thinks tax reform can help the average American. Tax reform is all about…

Trump Is Right. ‘Our Tax Code Is a Giant, Self-Inflicted Economic Wound.’
By Adam Michel, Policy Analyst, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies In his second speech in two weeks on the need for tax…

3 Ways the US Tax Code Is Killing Our Economy’s Potential
By Sondra Clark, Managing Director of Communications and Grassroots at Heritage Action for America. President Donald Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch…

VIDEO: Michael Needham discusses tax reform
Heritage Action for America’s CEO Michael Needham discusses tax reform on Bloomberg TV.…

Trump Says Tax Reform Could Create ‘Millions and Millions of New Jobs’
By Fred Lucas, White House correspondent for The Daily Signal. President Donald Trump hit his campaign themes of bringing back American jobs and raising wages…

OPINION: The key to passing tax reform: Keep it simple, stupid
By Stephen Moore, Distinguished Visiting Fellow for Project for Economic Growth at The Heritage Foundation. One of the most enduring lessons from the ObamaCare fiasco is…

Taxes, Regulations Hurt Economy
By David W. Kreutzer, Ph.D, Senior Research Fellow, Labor Markets and Trade at The Heritage Foundation. If bigger government, higher taxes, larger subsidies, more regulations…

VIDEO: Dr. Feulner discusses tax reform and Trump, Congress.
The Heritage Foundation’s President Dr. Ed Feulner discusses tax reform and the relationship between President Trump and Congress on Fox Business Network.…

How the Senate’s baseline budget could make or break tax reform
By Romina Boccia, fiscal and economic expert at The Heritage Foundation, and Adam Michel, policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation. Tax reform is one of the…

This Key Reform Must Be Central to Any New Tax Plan
By Salim Furth, Research Fellow in Macroeconomics at The Heritage Foundation, and Adam Michael, Policy Analyst in the Thomas A. Roe Institute at The Heritage Foundation.…

VIDEO: IRS Rehires 213 Employees
213—that’s how many employees the IRS rehired after they were dismissed for falsifying documents and avoiding paying their own taxes. How does this happen? To…

Tax Reform for Investment and Jobs
By Adam Michael, Policy Analyst for the Thomas A. Roe Institute at The Heritage Foundation. Fixing a quirk in the U.S. tax code would let businesses…

These Obama Regulations Make a Strong Case for Tax Reform
By Adam Michel, Heritage Foundation Policy Analyst & Jacob Lubenow, member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. Congress is pivoting to tax reform,…

A Conservative View of Trump vs. Amazon
By Dan Holler, Vice President of Heritage Action For America Amazon’s successful business model is “destroying department stores and retailing all over the country,” President Donald…

Real Estate Professional Legislative Strategy Call 08/10/17
Yesterday, conservatives working in the real estate industry all came together for our monthly Legislative Strategy Call. During the call, we heard from Heritage Action’s Wesley Coopersmith, Policy…


Republicans Just Made Tax Reform More Difficult
By Adam Michel, Heritage Foundation Policy Analyst This week, the House Budget Committee released its long-awaited budget. It makes progress in some areas, and falls short in others.…

Repealing This Obamacare Tax Would Signal That Tax Reform Is Alive
By Adam Michel, Heritage Foundation Policy Analyst The Senate is seriously considering keeping Obamacare’s 3.8 percent net investment income tax as part of it’s most recent repeal…

A Pathway for Pro-Growth, Fiscally Responsible Tax Reform
By Adam Michel, Heritage Foundation Policy Analyst and Chase Flowers, member of The Heritage Foundation's Young Leaders Program. The tax code is in dire need of…

Congress’ Inaction on Trump’s Agenda Costs America Nearly 1,000 Jobs Per Day
By Edwin J. Feulner, President of The Heritage Foundation “Drain the swamp!” It was the battle cry of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Many Republican members of Congress echoed that…

GOP Wants to Pay for Tax Cuts with a Tax Increase
Last week House Speaker Paul Ryan assured the country that tax reform is still coming despite uncertainty surrounding the repeal and replace of Obamacare. Speaker…

New Study Finds Americans Don’t Mind Lower Government Spending Due to Tax Cuts
By Elizabeth Fender, Market Research Associate at The Heritage Foundation & Adam Michel, Heritage Foundation Policy Analyst America’s tax code is horribly out of date. Thankfully, Congress…

If Congress Is Serious About Tax Reform, It Should Stop Passing Bills Like This
By Adam Michel, Heritage Foundation Policy Analyst House Speaker Paul Ryan doubled down earlier this month on getting tax reform done by the end of…

This Key Reform Must Be Central to Any New Tax Plan
By Salim Furth, Heritage Foundation Research Fellow in Macroeconomics & Adam Michel, Heritage Foundation Policy Analyst As Congress and the president move toward consensus on…

Video: Principles for Tax Reform: A Conversation with the House Freedom Caucus
Watch as members of the influential House Freedom Caucus lay out their principles for tax reform and the path forward in the 115th Congress. https://www.facebook.com/heritagefoundation/videos/10155382490189481/…

Phased-In Border Adjustment Tax Plan Is A Non-Starter
Washington — According to reports, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) “floated a five-year phase-in to his controversial ‘border adjustment’ idea on…

New Data Show That Ignorance of US Tax Policy Fuels Leftward Sentiments
By Elizabeth Fender, Market Research Associate at The Heritage Foundation. With federal Tax Day now here, taxes have been on many people’s minds and have…

House Conservatives Ready to ‘Go Big’ on Tax Reform That Includes Welfare Reform
By Fred Lucas, White House Correspondent for The Daily Signal The House Freedom Caucus wants to “go big” on a tax reform package to include welfare…

Congress Should Leave the Border Adjustment Tax Behind
By Adam Michel, Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation BAT, RIP? That’s what some people are claiming. And with good reason. The border adjustment tax…

President Trump’s Simplifications to Tax Code Are Key to Economic Growth
Last week President Trump unveiled his plan for the “biggest individual and business tax cut in American history.” However, it still didn’t take long for…

Put America First by Fixing the Tax System
By Adam Michel, Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation Tell someone that the U.S. tax system needs to be fixed, and you’re not likely to…

The Most Taxing Time of the Year
By Edwin J. Feulner, Former President of The Heritage Foundation, Chairman of the Asian Studies Center How does tax season make you feel? Angry? Tired?…

How to Talk Taxes in Simple Terms
By Beverly Hallberg, President of District Media Group If you’re in need of a great dinner party topic, try taxes. We pay taxes, we complain…

Here Are 6 Reasons to Lower the Corporate Tax Rate Immediately
By Timothy Doescher, Research Associate at The Heritage Foundation & Karl Keyzer-Andre, member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. At close to 40 percent…

Don’t Look To The Export-Import Bank To Create Jobs
Last week President Trump took a detour on his way to a weekend rally in Florida stopping at a Boeing plant in South Carolina. Trump…

What Economic Recovery? 95 Million Americans Out of the Labor Force
By Gloria Taylor In the remaining weeks of his Presidency, Obama has been quick to tout his economic legacy. Yet the last job report of…

Congress Should Repeal the Death Tax
This Wednesday, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) introduced legislation to fully repeal the federal estate and gift tax named the Death Tax Repeal Act (H.R. 198).…

Tax Reform a “First Priority” Under the Trump Administration
President-elect Donald Trump has been making a number of administrative appointments over the last few weeks. On Wednesday, President-elect Trump nominated a former Goldman Sachs…

Heritage Action Opposes Special Tax Breaks for Renewable Energy
Members of Congress will return to Washington, D.C. after the Presidential election on November 14th for a lame-duck session of Congress. Historically speaking, politicians use…

Obama’s New Death Tax Threatens Family Farms and Businesses
Special Guest Blog: Congressman Warren Davidson (R-OH) We all knew President Barack Obama’s lame-duck presidency would be bad, but for the millions of Americans who…

The State of Tax Reform in 2016
By Curtis Dubay, Heritage Foundation Economic & Tax Expert Tax reform remains a central issue in Washington because of its overwhelming necessity. Tax reform is…

Video: What Pro-Growth Tax Reform and Conservative Health Care Reform Should Look Like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ev9fB2UU0 Watch Heritage Foundation scholars Paul Winfree and Ed Haislmaier, along with CEO of Juniper Research Group Chris Jacobs, discuss the impact that an outdated tax…

Clinton’s Small Business Plan is More Government
Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will roll out her plan to make American small businesses great again, or in her words: “to support small businesses…

Why Real Estate Professionals Should Care More about Economic Growth than the U.S. Homeownership Rate
The U.S. homeownership rate recently fell to its lowest level since the Census Bureau began tracking the figure in the mid-1960s. At 62.9 percent, many…

Blueprint for Pro-Growth Tax Reform Released
Last Friday, House Republicans released a blueprint for comprehensive tax reform as part of the GOP’s larger campaign reform agenda named “A Better Way.” While…

How Tax Reform can Improve Home Affordability
According to a national 2016 How Housing Matters Survey, commissioned by the MacArthur Foundation, 81 percent of respondents believe housing affordability is a problem while…

Heritage Action Praises Tax Reform Task Force
Washington — Today, the House Republican’s tax reform task force released its policy recommendations. Last December, Speaker Paul D. Ryan promised to “show what we would…

President Obama’s latest budget: A bad deal for real estate professionals
This month, President Obama released the 8th and final budget of his presidency. Unfortunately for realtors, his budget includes a number of proposals that if…