The abandoned goal of revenue neutrality
The article discusses the decline of revenue neutrality in U.S. tax policy over the past decade. It highlights how recent tax reforms have shifted focus away from fiscal responsibility, contributing to growing national debt. The author argues for a return to revenue-neutral tax proposals to address the looming fiscal challenges.
- ▪Tax reform has increasingly ignored the principle of revenue neutrality, which used to be a fundamental expectation in policy design.
- ▪The Congressional Budget Office projects that the U.S. will face its largest sustained deficits in history over the next decade.
- ▪A greater focus on spending reductions and smarter pay-fors is necessary to manage the challenges posed by national debt.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Tax policy is hard work. But the work becomes harder when tax reform is done in a vacuum, when what ultimately gets signed into law narrowly focuses on the next election cycle rather than the looming fiscal cliff. Over the past decade, we’ve seen three major tax packages make it from Congress to a president’s desk: the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, and the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Each did some things right and other things wrong, but all moved away from a principle that used to be step one in designing a tax plan, regardless of party: revenue neutrality.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Washington Examiner.
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