Don Korb was this close to becoming IRS chief counsel again. Trump just pulled the plug on his nomination. My latest: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Greetings from Philadelphia, where I watched the production of the final five pennies. They're headed for an auction, not your sock drawer. www.wsj.com/articles/wit...

New from me: The corporate tax cuts from this year's law are running into a roadblock -- the 2022 corporate minimum tax. Companies (Meta, Qualcomm) are disclosing billions of dollars in tax breaks they can't use. And there's pressure on Treasury to ease the rules. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

New from me: Documents show how sweeping a request ICE made for IRS tax records -- and how IRS pushed back until the resulting handover was much, much narrower. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

The SALT cap is now $40,000, but it shrinks very quickly once income exceeds $500k. All-in marginal tax rates are over 50% in that range in some states. We go through some key tax-planning ideas: www.wsj.com/personal-fin...

Tariffs brought in record revenue in fiscal year 2025 for the U.S. government. But how much did that change the overall picture? Five takeaways from @richardrubindc.bsky.social and me today on what has changed about the federal budget—and what hasn’t. www.wsj.com/economy/tari...

New from me today: Democratic-backed tax bills introduced since OBBBA enactment have called for expanding some of Trump's "no tax on" policies. It's a nod to their popularity -- and an attempt to highlight the new law's limits. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

If you fall into one of the new law's preferred groups, you can go quite a way up the income scale before you have to pay federal income tax. We visualized a few examples: www.wsj.com/personal-fin...

New from me today: What tax do billionaires pay? The corporate tax, which is a crucial component of the US revenue system at the very top of the income distribution, according to a new study. www.wsj.com/personal-fin...

New from me: The "no tax on overtime" deduction is big, popular -- and a little messy. Employers and workers are starting to grapple with the rules for who qualifies and who doesn't. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

New from us today: The tax law made five separate changes that will affect incentives for charitable giving. How will that all shake out? www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

New from me: US exporters -- particularly those with factories and research expenses -- scored a big win in the tax law. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

We're doing a live Q-and-A today on the recent WSJ poll, including Americans' dim views of the new tax-and-spending law. Lob in your questions now: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

IG update: As of May, IRS workforce was down 25% from this year's 103,000 starting point. Pretty even spread over job types, including a 26% decline in revenue agents (auditors). Here are all the details: www.tigta.gov/sites/defaul...

CBO current policy (CP) score is useful for the pattern. You see expanded tax cuts happen first (deficits up against CP by $597B in 26-29). Those expire and spending cuts come ($936B deficit reduction against CP in 30-34). Unless Congress extends "no tax on" & cancels spending cuts.

New from us: The tax law retools Opportunity Zones, trying to push more money into rural areas largely left behind by a program for left-behind areas. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

So post-enactment, the current policy baseline is no longer current policy. Are we calling it: --Baseline formerly known as current policy --The then-current policy baseline --Prior policy baseline None of those are particularly fun and/or clear.

First time I think I've gotten Zeus into a budget story. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

The school-voucher/scholarship tax credit in the GOP tax bill is unlike any other tax break. Our story: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

All the noise about the SALT cap is around $10k, $30k, or $40k. But there are a ton of dollars in the much messier and more technical debate about cap workarounds for businesses. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

New from us today: A visual look at how and why the US turned from budget surpluses to deficits over the past quarter-century. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

CBO says the House GOP megabill gets more expensive when economic effects are included. Our new story: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

First WSJ take on the Senate tax/health text. More to come: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Thanks to @richardrubindc.bsky.social for featuring this work in his recent article on the debate around the macroeconomic impacts of the OBBBA: www.wsj.com/economy/trum...

New from me: An interview with CBO Director Phill Swagel, who's bearing the brunt of Republican attacks on the budget scorekeeping agency. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

There's noise about trying to do more spending cuts in the Senate bill. But addressing many of the senators' concerns--Medicaid cuts, IRA phaseouts, tax-cut permanence--require more money to avoid even bigger deficit increases. My latest on the $$ squeeze in the Senate: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Some spousal news...

New from us this morning: The version of "no tax on Social Security" in the House bill is not quite that. It's a real tax cut, for sure. That said, many people will stay pay taxes on benefits. And some who don't receive benefits will get the tax cut. www.wsj.com/personal-fin...

I have asked the WH and not gotten an answer. 68% is roughly (a little high but close) to the share of households that would see a tax increase if TCJA expires Dec. 31. So that's a working theory. Could also be some sample household, maybe income-tax only? Dunno.

Notable because this one has attracted some attention from nonprofits -- the version of the reconciliation bill posted by the Rules Committee no longer includes the section on designating "terrorist supporting organizations." rules.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

Business lobbyists and even some Ways and Means Republicans were surprised and delighted when the 20% pass-through deduction turned into a 23% pass-through deduction. Latest from me: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

New from me: Rs and Ds are using the same tax distribution tables — and highlighting very different points about who wins and loses in the GOP tax plan. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Version 1 on the big tax bill release. More to come. Ideas and thoughts welcome: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

What's in the tax bill matters. The WHEN is just as important. The GOP plan puts a bunch of cash in pockets in early 2026 -- well before the midterms. my story: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

If anyone can make heads or tails of the proposed non-rate changes to Sec. 199A, I welcome your thoughts.

Don't call it a comeback. It's been here for tiers. Trump puts the top tax rate on the table again. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Your 👀stat of the day, from TIGTA. Just from the probationary firings and first deferred resignations, the IRS lost 31% of its revenue agents (auditors). tigta.gov/sites/defaul...

New from me today: Most of Republicans' big tax-cut bill is just keeping the status quo beyond Dec. 31, and it may prove tough to get much of an economic or political boost from that. www.wsj.com/politics/tru...

Quick status update on IRS/ICE info sharing. As of yesterday, DHS and ICE have not sought any tax return info under their agreement and IRS has not provided any info, per document filed in federal court.

From this weekend, a look at the path ahead for the IRS. One notable thing -- IRS under both parties has argued for years that enforcement staffing has a positive return on investment. Trump admin is partly rejecting that premise, pushing more on tech. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

New from me: The income taxes-for-tariffs swap that Trump keeps talking about has some math problems: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

This is not reupping a recent story. There is, indeed, another new IRS commissioner today. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

From last night: For a long time, the IRS has tried to reinforce the idea that tax enforcement decisions aren't made with political input. Then came this week. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Trump names Gary Shapley -- the IRS criminal investigator who criticized the government over the Hunter Biden case -- as the agency's acting commissioner. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

So, there's a budget resolution. The @WSJ latest on what happened and what's next: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

New from us: Trump and Johnson have repeatedly melted GOP opposition on close votes. Is the budget resolution going to end that streak? Trump says close your eyes and vote for it. GOP opponents are eyes-wide-open as they resist. www.wsj.com/politics/rep...

New tonight. The acting IRS commissioner and several other senior officials are leaving the agency as the Trump administration shrinks and reshapes the IRS. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Republicans are preparing to move ahead on tax cuts as tariffs kick in and with big questions -- namely the size of spending cuts -- still unresolved. Our latest: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Rep. Chip Roy is going to be at the center of the coming fight over the GOP tax-and-spending legislation. Here's my video interview with the Texas Republican. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

So, uh, in non-tariff news, we have a Senate budget resolution, heading for a vote this week. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...