As millions of football fans gear up for a fresh NFL kickoff, superstars like Patrick Mahomes, Bijan Robinson, Puka Nacua, and Jalen Carter are preparing for more than just physical showdowns on the gridiron. When these elite athletes pack their bags for away games this season, they aren’t merely traveling to compete—they are embarking on…
By Erica York, Senior Economist, Center for Federal Tax Policy Main Facts During a high-profile address at the Republican National Convention in Dallas, President Trump made a sweeping electoral pledge: every adult citizen in the United States will receive a direct $5,000 dividend payment. However, this windfall is explicitly conditional. The payouts depend entirely on…
In June 2026, the European Commission unveiled a landmark proposal—the "Tax Omnibus" package—aimed at fundamentally restructuring the direct tax framework across the European Union. By targeting the labyrinthine rules that govern withholding taxes on cross-border payments, the Commission intends to eliminate systemic inefficiencies that have long hindered the flow of capital within the Single Market….
In the hyper-competitive arena of the global economy, Research and Development (R&D) stands as the primary engine of long-term productivity and growth. To capture this growth, governments worldwide increasingly utilize expenditure-based tax incentives to lower the effective cost of innovation for corporations. However, a new analysis of 2025 data reveals a stark divergence in strategy,…
In the landscape of American urban planning, few issues have proven as intractable as traffic congestion. For decades, New York City served as the quintessential case study for gridlock, with 2024 data from INRIX crowning the metropolis as the most congested city in the United States. Drivers in the city were losing an average of…
As geopolitical tensions in the Persian Gulf continue to roil international energy markets, the global economy stands at a precarious juncture. Policymakers across the developed world are finding themselves in a classic "policy trap": they must stimulate economic momentum to combat cooling growth while simultaneously addressing the looming specter of record-high public indebtedness. With aging…
In the modern digital economy, the infrastructure connecting a small-town B&B owner in the French Alps to a global traveler is a marvel of specialization. It relies on a complex, layered "stack" of digital services—search engines, targeted advertising platforms, and online travel agencies (OTAs)—that allow small businesses to compete on a global stage. However, a…
For millions of Americans, the dream of retirement is painted with the brush of financial relief. The prevailing narrative suggests that once the daily grind of a nine-to-five career ends, the tax burden will naturally diminish. The logic seems sound: if your earned income disappears, your total taxable income drops, placing you into a lower…
For years, international health organizations and policymakers have operated under a seemingly simple, yet deeply flawed, fiscal assumption: that the most effective way to reduce the consumption of specific goods—most notably tobacco—is to ensure that taxes account for a fixed percentage of the retail price. The World Health Organization (WHO), in particular, has championed a…
Across state capitals from Annapolis to Olympia, a new fiscal frontier is emerging. Policymakers, driven by a mixture of budgetary necessity and a desire to curb the perceived outsized influence of "Big Tech," are increasingly targeting data processing and digital services for new tax revenue. While these proposals are often framed as targeted levies on…
