The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017: Lessons learned and the debate ahead

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 made sweeping changes to individual and corporate taxation including cutting the corporate rate from 35% to 21%. Almost all the individual tax provisions expire at the end of next year, setting up a major debate over taxes in 2025. Without action, taxes on nearly all American households will rise. Donald Trump would like to extend all temporary cuts and lower the corporate tax further. Kamala Harris has not laid out specific tax proposals yet but has endorsed President Biden’s vow to avoid tax increases on households with income below $400,000 and his proposals to raise taxes on corporations and affluent households. Congress may revisit the TCJA’s business tax cuts as well.

With several years of evidence to draw upon, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy brought together authors of five papers recently published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives to discuss the impact of the TCJA on individuals, domestic businesses, multinational corporations, and investors in and residents of Opportunity Zones, as well as the tax debate looming in 2025. The papers and authors provided critical information for policymakers as they consider how to move forward next year. (The Hutchins Center published an explainer on which provisions of the TCJA are set to expire at the end of 2025.)

Viewers joined the conversation and asked questions of the speakers in advance by emailing [email protected] and on X/Twitter @BrookingsEcon using the hashtag #TCJA.