Joe Biden's 2020 campaign tax plan aimed to raise roughly $3.3 trillion to $4 trillion over a decade by increasing taxes on corporations and high-income earners (over $400,000). Key proposals included raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, restoring the top individual tax rate to 39.6%, and taxing capital gains as ordinary income for top earners.
The Biden tax plan is highly progressive, increasing taxes for the top 1 percent of earners by 13 to 18 percent of after-tax income, while indirectly increasing taxes for most other groups by 0.2 to 0.6 percent.
The President's proposal includes tax increases for corporations and high-wealth individuals and families, many of which undo changes made to the tax code by the Trump-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The proposal also includes tax credit increases for people who earn low incomes and parents.
The Standard Deduction increased for inflation
The Standard Deductions were increased for inflation in 2020: Single and Married Filing Separately: $12,400. Married Filing Jointly: $24,800. Head of Household: $18,650.
Biden's tax plan seeks to restore higher tax rates, including top individual federal income tax, which he wants to restore to the pre-Trump rate of 39.6% from 37%, and corporate rates to 28% from 21%. Individual taxpayers who have incomes less than $400,000 would not see any increase to their rates.
Harris' proposal would raise the top personal income tax rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends from 20 percent to 28 percent for taxable income in excess of $1 million. Tax unrealized gains in excess of $5 million (in excess of $10 million for a married couple) on assets passed on to heirs.
To raise additional revenue for reform, the ACA imposed excise taxes on health insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and manufacturers of medical devices; raised taxes on high-income families; and increased limits on the income tax deduction for medical expenses.
Allowances are no longer used for the redesigned Form W-4. This change is meant to increase transparency, simplicity, and accuracy of the form. In the past, the value of a withholding allowance was tied to the amount of the personal exemption.
The top individual marginal income tax rate tended to increase over time through the early 1960s, with some additional bumps during war years. The top income tax rate reached above 90% from 1944 through 1963, peaking in 1944, when top taxpayers paid an income tax rate of 94% on their taxable income.
"Read my lips: no new taxes" is a phrase spoken by American presidential candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans as he accepted the nomination on August 18.
Real GDP growth averaged a robust 3.4% during the first three years of the Biden presidency. The labor market was strong in 2023. The unemployment rate averaged a very low 3.6% in 2023, as it had in 2022; the last year with an average 3.5% unemployment rate was 1969.
You likely owe more in taxes due to insufficient withholding (not enough taken from paychecks), increased income (especially from side hustles or bonuses), major life changes (marriage, divorce, new dependents affecting credits/deductions), changes in tax laws, or owing taxes on investments/capital gains, with under-withholding often being the main culprit.
The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (Relief Act), enacted December 27, 2020, amended and extended the employee retention credit (and the availability of certain advance payments of the tax credits) under the CARES Act for the first and second calendar quarters of 2021.
This boost in tax revenue occurred because of the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. It originally allocated $80 billion in new funding for the IRS over 10 years. Congress later reduced that sum to $60 billion.
On May 28, 2021, the White House and Treasury released the Fiscal Year 2022 Federal Budget and the Treasury Green Book, or "Green Book", which includes new details regarding the Biden administration's proposed 2021 tax reform -- including a retroactive proposed capital gains tax increase to 37% to the extent household ...
The IRS' revamped W-4 form is designed to ensure withholding numbers are just right — not too much, not too little — given the Trump administration's 2017 tax changes, which cut rates but also ended or reduced some deductions.
He raised taxes on higher income taxpayers early in his first term and cut defense spending and welfare, which contributed to a rise in revenue and decline in spending relative to the size of the economy.
April 10, 2025, the House adopted the Senate's amended version of the budget resolution, which allows $5.3 trillion in deficit-financed tax cuts (the combination of $3.8 trillion of tax cuts assumed to be “costless” under a current policy baseline plus $1.5 trillion in additional deficits permitted), deficit increases ...
The IRS "10k rule" primarily refers to the requirement for businesses and financial institutions to report cash transactions over $10,000 by filing Form 8300 (for businesses) or a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) (for banks), under the Bank Secrecy Act. This rule helps combat money laundering, tax evasion, and terrorist financing, requiring reporting for single transactions or related transactions totaling over $10,000 in cash within a year, with penalties for non-compliance.