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Patrick Driessen

@pdriessentax.bsky.social
185 followers 100 following 180 posts

Interest in tax policy but understand it's just one part of puzzle. Learning a lot from u-13s.

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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
This reinventing-the-wheel humor might hit better if SNAP wasn't under siege. Sub-federal govts are scrambling to react to punitive federal actions. Sure, ideally a lot of this would be more efficient at federal level (ditto too CA wealth tax), but the needs don't wait. bsky.app/profile/cram...
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Zorka Milin @zorkamilin.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The Trump administration is gutting the law that ensures big corporations pay a minimum amount of tax, and companies like Meta and Qualcomm are reaping billions. As I told @bloombergtax.com, Treasury’s regulatory actions have the cumulative effect of basically repealing CAMT.
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David S. Mitchell @dsmitch28.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
U.S. debt held by the public just topped 100% of GDP, and CBO says it'll break the WWII-era record (106%) before 2030. But measure debt against total private wealth instead, and it's only ~half its 1945 peak. A thread on why the yardstick matters. 🧵
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Lily Batchelder @lilybatch.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
My new piece in Democracy on why Congress should repeal expensing and move back toward economic depreciation for large businesses, as was the law for most of the income tax’s history. Could raise ~$2 trillion over 10 years. Here’s 4 reasons why: 1/17 democracyjournal.org/magazine/81/...
democracyjournal.org
Expensing—Not Worth the Expense
Last year’s giant tax bill established something unprecedented in the history of the income tax, which sounds dryly technical and thus unobjectionable. It’s called permanent “expensing,” and it allows...
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Kimberly Clausing @kclausing.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
(1/2) Looking forward to talking tax @hamiltonproject.org in one week, on June 16! At the event, the conversation will focus on three new business tax proposals, including my own proposal, a DBCFT proposal, and a pass-through reform. www.hamiltonproject.org/event/taking...
hamiltonproject.org
Taking on tax: The future of corporate taxation - The Hamilton Project
On June 16, The Hamilton Project, the Tax Law Center at NYU Law, and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center will host an event on business tax reform.
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Right now, green credits look like fossil fuel subsidies in govt agency distributional & macro models. Green, incl. carbon tax, advocates have to push to convince modelers of positive macro, and less regressive distributional, effects. This push has succeeded in other policy areas. t.co/Hzuny018ce
t.co
https://www.taxnotes.com/lr/resolve/tax-notes-today-federal/were-green-tax-credits-doomed-from-the-start/7w58h
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
James, Sens. Booker & Van Hollen didn't vote for TCJA or OBBBA, or a present policy baseline. They've been fiscally good for many years. There are lots of tax things all progressives, not just Booker and CVH, should beware of, incl. capital expensing and green tax credits. bsky.app/profile/jdcm...
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Zorka Milin @zorkamilin.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Our @factcoalition.bsky.social letter in @taxnotes.com clears the air on our recent analysis and its unmistakable conclusion that many big US companies are slashing their taxes through offshore tax structures, and current US rules aren’t doing much to stop them. www.taxnotes.com/tax-notes-to...
taxnotes.com
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David S. Mitchell @dsmitch28.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
As wealth tax debates heat up — including a possible ballot measure in California — how can citizens separate fact from fiction? A thread on why taxing wealth is not only possible, but consistent with — and even necessary to restore — America's progressive tax tradition. 🧵
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Zorka Milin @zorkamilin.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
US tax rules are indeed weaker than the global standard, as I said at the EU tax symposium last month. That costs the US government, but I'm not sure it's a key competitive advantage; non-tax factors matter more. Restarting the global tax race to the bottom would be a costly mistake for everyone.
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Zorka Milin @zorkamilin.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Self-serving Tax Day op-ed by Jeff Bezos-owned WaPo parrots a familiar line we hear from tax-dodging companies: "we're just following the law." What they don't tell you: all too often, they ghostwrite the tax law. Memo to @washingtonpost.com: less tax punditry and more smart tax reporting, please!
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
‪Political reality & such, we should be careful looking back. Obama (ACA, CTC, EITC) and Biden (fighting pandemic, chasing billionaire inequality) did good fiscal stuff, but also did permanent budget buster (Obama 2013) and $500B of regressive, even if otherwise worthy, green credits (Biden 2022).
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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
one day, when things are quieter, i'll write my version of "where do our tax dollars go?" there are lots of great pieces out there, but i want give my take not just on what we currently do, but also how and why that's changed over time – and what we still need to do anyway, govt has improved
line providing help to people go up
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Zorka Milin @zorkamilin.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
"This isn’t just about clever accounting — it's about power and impunity. When millionaires and billionaires stash trillions of dollars in offshore tax havens, they place themselves above the obligations that bind the rest of society." Christian Hallum, @oxfaminternational.bsky.social
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David DeWitt @daviddewitt.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Commentary: It is time we put aside the fiction that we bear no responsibility for an immigration system that is broken or that we owe no debt of gratitude to the millions of undocumented immigrants who have put roofs over our heads and food on our plates. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/03/27/w...
ohiocapitaljournal.com
What we owe our immigrants in Ohio • Ohio Capital Journal
It is time we put aside the fiction that we bear no responsibility for an immigration system that is colossally broken or that we owe no thanks or debt of gratitude to the millions of undocumented…
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
"K-shaped" post-pandemic recovery? Maybe, but K shape that really matters is how growth, even after transfers and taxes, was regressive for 40 years across quintiles and within top quintile. And this is pre-OBBBA-pre-tariffs. In that time, only Biden took big tax swing at this (tho missed) in 2021.
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Bill Gale @billgale.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
In our new paper, colleagues from @taxpolicycenter.bsky.social and I offer a preliminary assessment of OBBBA, covering what it changed and what its effects will be on the budget, the economy, distributional outcomes, and future fiscal policy. taxpolicycenter.org/research-rep...
taxpolicycenter.org
One Big Beautiful Bill? A Preliminary Assessment
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025” (OBBBA), signed into law July 4, 2025, is a sweeping tax-and-spending package that could reshape federal fiscal policy for decades to come.
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Center on Budget and Policy Priorities @centeronbudget.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Tariffs are highly flawed as a general revenue source b/c of the economic distortions they create & the burden they place on families with low & moderate incomes. Policymakers should raise corp tax rates as an alternative to harmful & regressive tariffs: www.cbpp.org/research/fed...
cbpp.org
Policymakers Should Raise Corporate Tax Rates as Alternative to Harmful and Regressive Tariffs
Policymakers should abandon the Administration’s economically harmful and regressive tariffs and pursue more efficient and equitable revenue-raising policies.
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Four comments on tax proposals from Sens. Booker and Van Hollen: (1) The proposals aren't the same. (2) A good cross-national comparison shows US has a relatively flat, not progressive, tax system (including SALT, & treating refundable credits like the similar transfers provided by other nations).
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
The little (OK, maybe mid-sized) incremental progressive tax train engine that could (while actually saving fuel): A legally vetted corporate surtax that targets concentrated legacy ownership and retained earnings. Btw, no intentional shade cast on bigger engines. www.taxnotes.com/lr/resolve/t...
taxnotes.com
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
OK, maybe the E.Saez/G.Zucman estimate letter for the Sanders wealth tax is a bit pithy for something that raises $4.4T, though have seen (and done) pithier. It's also possible they'll offer more details. Yet I strongly encourage people considering the estimate to work thru the statutory draft.1/2
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
The Moore SC decision encourages repurposing tax code parts to target avoidance by legacy types. Subpart F and the accumulated earnings tax could be combined in a corporate surtax aimed at major individual shareholders of U.S. corps that retain lots of earnings. $ @taxnotes.com
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
OBBBA "No tax" rev losses, JCX-35-25, bils.$: - 32 No tax on tips - 89 " on overtime - 31 " on car interest -212 " on some estates -705 " on normal income* *Ch. 3, Subch. A, 1,2,3,7 [Excl. soc sec (not really no tax) & s179 (small biz)]
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
RE: DHS negotiations - If ditch Trump admin actions, clawback DHS/ICE $$, and revert to Biden 2024 EO, CBO says that still would be big net drop in immigration from Jan 2024 baseline. So less paramilitary stuff, & >$500B in deficit reduction. Where are my fiscal/state-power conservative friends?
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
This guy, as usual, is a must-read-listen. As a process matter, he also seems to be handling well the when-do-I-say-something-with-free-access versus the insular-substack thing. It seems like some other really important voices are now getting buried behind paywalls. bsky.app/profile/pkru...
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Paul Krugman @pkrugman.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
What is a balance-of-payments deficit? I should know, but I don't. Nobody does. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY6d...
youtube.com
So what is a balance of payments deficit, anyway?
YouTube video by Paul Krugman
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Student loans, being dragged into, and defamed in, the SC tariff debate, can be imagined to say: "If last 4 or 10 years (e.g., before 2021) of prior Administrations badly botched something like student loans, the SC said that mess can then turn into a "major question," thereby hamstringing ... 1/2
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
I'm leery of the arguments that "less educated" immigrants (e.g., CBO below) tend to lower US total factor productivity. 1st, the categories seem blunt if not classist. 2nd, why doesn't a non-STEM immigrant's willingness to work at lower wage than others increase TFP? Are employers being fooled?
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Some have rebutted WSJ's Greg Ip (whose charts are below) by saying GDI shouldn't be so ... gross. E.g., labor share falls less when consumption of fixed capital is removed. Yet L itself is gross: no netting of employment costs, value of lost time, etc. When taking G out of GDI, need consistency.
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
CBO is national treasure, incl. being straight about uncertainty. That said, both findings below are influenced by CBO attributing most 2025-and-on net immigration reduction to "administrative policy" instead of OBBBA. This 10/90 split flatters OBBBA more than, say, a 50/50 or 70/30 split would.
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Interesting stuff. Quibble, tho, with the lede "Corporations are now taxed more efficiently than ever." Where to start? OBBBA radicalized expensing w/ structures & weakened already-weak limit on debt financing. Tax rate on supernormal (esp. fgn) income is really low, etc. bsky.app/profile/zlis...
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Omri makes very good point here (he might even be a tax professor!) Deferred tax is quite squishy - some DTAs (such as unused research credits) never get used, & some DTLs (e.g., linked to OBBBA expensing) may never get paid either, due to t/p behavior or law changes 1/2 bsky.app/profile/omri...
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
For the pending DHS debate, 2 key findings from CBO, which has modeled immigration for 20 years: (1) Biden policy initiated in June 2024 reduced net immigration by 400,000 in 2024, without gobs of wall/paramilitary/detention $$. Pre-Trump, CBO already foresaw a huge post-2024 immigration drop. 1/2
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
For the pending DHS debate, 2 key findings from CBO, which has modeled immigration for 20 years: (1) Biden policy initiated in June 2024 reduced net immigration by 400,000 in 2024, without gobs of wall/paramilitary/detention $$. Pre-Trump, CBO already foresaw a huge post-2024 immigration drop. 1/2
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Claims have been made that TCJA (and now OBBBA) stopped corporate inversions. But a key inversion penalty is set to expire in Dec. 2027. Who wants to watch Pharma, probably the most aggressive major industry when it comes to inversion, walk their headquarters out of US? bsky.app/profile/jame...
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Zorka Milin @zorkamilin.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Why is GE paying all this tax to Singapore and not the US? Because this is what we get when US tax policy puts tax havens first. Clearly P2 rules are more stringent than the equivalent US rules (GILTI) which haven't managed to catch this in past years.
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Kudos to Sen. Tillis & others (incl. Jason) on this. Yet it's been a broad attack on govt agencies (some without Fed's statutory protection?) & exec branch (e.g., inspectors general), and state-local govt too. A neutral Fed matter less if this other stuff is partisanized. bsky.app/profile/jaso...
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Context for use of national income below is view that China's GDP-per-capita doesn't denote welfare due to high forced consumption of fixed capital (CFC). In US case, it may not be about forced CFC as much as capital ownership, i.e., big US capital account surplus*. (*corrected from 'deficit')
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
This letter is good: Jay Powell deserves support. Ditto Lisa Cook. Next up: 8 of the letter's 14 signers were key CEA/Treasury in admins that used deceitful current policy scoring not unlike Senate used for OBBBA in 2025. If haven't done so already, the 8 should reconsider that. t.co/SdJUj0NP72
t.co
https://jointstatement.substack.com/p/statement-on-the-federal-reserve
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Brian Galle @bdgesq.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
For far more than you really wanted to know about how zillionaires dodge tax on inter-generational transfers, see papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Taxing Dynasties
<p><span>The estate tax and the broader wealth-transfer-tax system are even more broken than is commonly understood. Over the past two decades, researchers and
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Brian Galle @bdgesq.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Yet more misinformation about the #CaliforniaBillionaireTax is circulating on X, drawing on highly misleading analysis from the Tax Foundation. We have posted a short document explaining why that analysis is false. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Expert Report on Valuation of Controlling Shares of Publicly Traded Companies Under the California Billionaire Tax Act (CBTA)
This short memo addresses concerns that have been raised under the proposed California Billionaire Tax Act (CBTA or Act) about the valuation of "voting&quo
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Lots of complaints (e.g., below) that CA wealth tax is deceitful Trojan horse. Yet in 2017 & 2025, only 50 Sens were needed to reduce federal estate (another type of wealth) tax massively. And 2025 vote was framed as costing zero. CA process, incl. 2/3 thing, seems a lot more robust & transparent.
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Per CA wealth tax vote-or-value test: Vote-or-value thresholds are common in tax code, e.g., in arguably biggest anti-deferral provision, subpart F. CA t/ps also can fact-and-circumstance this aspect of the wealth tax (below from @bdgesq.bsky.social @davidgamage.bsky.social et al, SSRN 5996554).
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
My calculation described below that OBBBA is projected to cost $500,000 for each immigrant removal over the 2025-34 budget period. This ratio combines: (1) The scoring of OBBBA's immigration enforcement provisions, and (2) CBO's view of how much this OBBBA stuff will reduce net immigration
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Patrick Driessen @pdriessentax.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
My calculation described below that OBBBA is projected to cost $500,000 for each immigrant removal over the 2025-34 budget period. This ratio combines: (1) The scoring of OBBBA's immigration enforcement provisions, and (2) CBO's view of how much this OBBBA stuff will reduce net immigration
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Brian Galle @bdgesq.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
There's a lot of misinformation already floating around about the #CABillionaireTaxAct. We have posted some new resources for folks who want to learn more. 1. FAQs about the bill. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 2. Rebuttal of some dumb legal arguments about it: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Expert Report On The California 2026 Billionaire Tax: Revenue, Economic, and Constitutional Analysis
This report summarizes key provisions of the California Billionaire Tax Act.  It also answers some frequently asked questions.
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Rasmus Corlin Christensen @phdskat.org · 08/01/2026
1. This is insane (goes without saying). 2. The length serves a reminder of the breadth and depth and importance of international cooperation in every aspect of our lives today. 3. Note what's *not* on this list: WTO, World Bank, OECD, G7/G20, lots of big UN bodies (WHO, UNICEF, UNDP), etc.
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International Tax Observatory @taxobservatory.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
🏛️ Policy Panel A high-level discussion on progress, remaining challenges, and next steps on the transparency agenda! 👥 Featuring Manal Corwin (TBC), Ezera Madzivanyika, Zorka Milin, Matthew Caruana Galizia
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John Voorheis @johnvoorheis.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Specific to people in Ann Arbor: I will be giving a talk next Tuesday at the Stone Center on Inequality Dynamics seminar series. I'll be presenting new research on the intergenerational transmission of housing wealth in the US, more details here: inequality.umich.edu/john-voorheis/
inequality.umich.edu
“Housing Capital and Intergenerational Mobility in the United States” | Stone Center for Inequality Dyanmics
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