Note: The following is the testimony of Dr. William McBride, Vice President of Federal Tax Policy & Stephen J. Entin Fellow in Economics at the Tax Foundation, prepared for Senate Budget Committee hearing on April 18, 2023, titled, “A Rigged System: The Cost of Tax Dodging by the Wealthy and Big Corporations.”

Table of Contents

• The Size and Distribution of the Federal Tax Burden
• Federal Tax Collections are Near Record Highs
• Most of the Federal Tax Burden is Paid by High Earners
• Tax Code’s Complexity Adds to the Burden
• The Economic Cost of High Marginal Income Tax Rates
• Recommendations for Reform
• Conclusion

The Size and Distribution of the Federal Tax Burden

Chairman Whitehouse, Ranking Member Grassley, and distinguished members of the Senate Budget Committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on the distribution of the federal tax burden. I am William McBride, Vice President of Federal Tax Policy and Stephen J. Entin Fellow in Economics at the Tax Foundation, where I focus on how we can improve our federal tax code.

Today, my testimony will focus on four points. First, I will describe the current federal tax system, showing that tax collections are near an all-time high and the burden is highly progressive. Second, I will describe how the tax code’s increasing complexity adds to this burden, raising compliance costs for taxpayers and administrative costs for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Third, I will describe the economic costs of the tax code...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiPmh0dHBzOi8vdGF4Zm91bmRhdGlvbi5vcmcv...