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As the saying goes, in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. This is as true today as it was in 1789 when Benjamin Franklin wrote these words in a letter about the newly written Constitution. But while the existence of taxes in the United States may be certain, much is uncertain about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the most significant upheaval of our tax code in decades.
At the time of passage, policymakers and academics debated the implications of tax reform, and even among leading thinkers in the field, opinions were diverse. Today those same conversations are continuing, and we are still debating exactly how the TCJA is playing out across the country and the globe.
The TCJA signifies different things to different people. Companies focus on the corporate rate cuts and a new international tax system. Individuals and households view it from the standpoint of changes to the individual tax provisions, such as the cut in marginal income tax rates and expansions of the child tax credit. High-income taxpayers are concerned about the cap on the state and local tax deduction. Pass-through entities are engaged in decoding the complicated rules relating to section 199A. Budget experts worry about the longer-run fiscal impacts on the deficit, while other policy experts applaud what the TCJA has done for competitiveness of the US tax code. Tax and accounting professionals are still trying to decipher what the new law means for companies. Clearly, the only thing certain about the TCJA is its uncertainty.
In this blog series, we aim to put these different perspectives together and maybe, just maybe, reduce some of this uncertainty. What answers do we have so far, and what do we hope to learn going forward? Has the TCJA sparked the growth it promised? Did it in fact make the tax code simpler and fairer? Is it a giveaway to the rich, or are all Americans benefiting? Is the TCJA a success or a failure, or is it too early to tell?
The experts featured here represent a diversity of opinions. Some have served in previous administrations or have been advisers to policymakers in Congress, both Democratic and Republican. Others have decades of experience writing on tax policy. Some are academics who have modeled the impact of tax changes on the economy. We hope these blogs bring a balanced, thoughtful, and insightful perspective on the most significant tax reform in the US in several decades.
We invite the readers to respond to these blogs and engage with the writers, because tax policy affects all of us. This blog hopes to not only spark debate on the TCJA but also engage all readers and make tax policy accessible to all Americans. We hope you enjoy the series and the variety of opinions expressed. For the schedule of writers, click here. We may even add in a few surprises along the way.
Return to the series
At the end of 2017, the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) brought the most sweeping overhaul of the US tax code in decades. Two years later, where are we at?
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