The Tax Policy Podcast with Fexingo: Income Tax, Corporate Tax, and Fiscal Conversations

Lucas and Luna dive into the world of semiconductor tax incentives, focusing on the CHIPS Act of 2022 and its impact on domestic chip manufacturing. They explore how a 25% investment tax credit for semiconductor fabrication plants has spurred over $200 billion in private investment, reshaping supply chains and creating tens of thousands of jobs. The episode examines specific examples like TSMC's A...

In this episode of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna unpack the often-overlooked world of international tax treaties. Using the real-world example of a U.S.-based consultant working remotely for a German client, they explain how double taxation agreements work, how they determine which country gets to tax which income, and what happens when a treaty doesn't exist. They also touch on the OECD'...

In this episode of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into the often-overlooked ways the U.S. tax code influences your health insurance decisions. They focus on the premium tax credit and the employer-sponsored insurance exclusion, explaining how these provisions create a 'wedge' that pushes many workers toward job-based coverage—even when a cheaper or better plan might exist on the indiv...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changed the way Americans donate to charity — and why fewer households now itemize deductions. They break down the standard deduction hike, the rise of donor-advised funds, and the little-known 'bunching' strategy that can save you thousands. Using real data from Giving USA and the IRS, they explain why charitable giving as...

Most people think the estate tax only hits the ultra-wealthy. But the real story is the generation-skipping transfer tax, or GST, which has quietly shaped how families pass down wealth since 1976. Lucas and Luna walk through a specific case: a family with a $20 million estate using a dynasty trust in South Dakota to sidestep the GST in 2026. They explain how the exemption amount, currently $13.99...

In episode 100 of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how federal tax incentives tilt the financial calculus toward homeownership—and what that means for renters. They focus on the mortgage interest deduction and the capital gains exclusion on home sales, using a concrete example: a married couple deciding whether to buy a $400,000 home in Columbus, Ohio, versus renting a similar unit f...

Most people believe earning more money can push them into a higher tax bracket and leave them with less take-home pay. Lucas and Luna debunk this persistent myth using the real 2026 federal tax brackets. They walk through how marginal rates actually work — each bracket only applies to income within that range, not your entire salary. Using a concrete example of a single filer earning $95,000 in 20...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the payroll tax system that funds Social Security and Medicare—how it works, who pays, and why it creates a different set of incentives than income tax. They walk through the 2026 wage base cap of $176,100, the flat 12.4% Social Security rate split between employee and employer, and the uncapped 2.9% Medicare tax. Lucas explains why Warren Buffett famousl...

In this episode of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how the Inflation Reduction Act's solar tax credits are reshaping the renewable energy landscape by mid-2026. They focus on the case of First Solar, a US-based manufacturer, which has used the 45X advanced manufacturing production credit to expand domestic production capacity. The hosts break down how the transferability provision a...

Lucas and Luna explore the digital services tax (DST) — a levy on revenue from user data, advertising, and platform services. They trace its origins to the EU's 2018 proposal, explain how countries like France and the UK adopted their own versions, and examine the 2026 landscape where a global deal under the OECD remains stalled. Using real numbers — like France's 3% rate and the $500 million it c...

The corporate alternative minimum tax, introduced in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, was supposed to hit only a few dozen of the largest companies. By mid-2026, it has quietly expanded its reach, affecting firms with average annual profits above $1 billion. Lucas and Luna break down how the AMT works, why the IRS issued clarifying guidance in March 2026, and how companies are adjusting their tax...

Lucas and Luna examine how the tax code influences retirement savings decisions, focusing on the trade-offs between traditional 401(k)s and Roth accounts. They break down the math of tax deferral versus tax-free withdrawals, using a concrete example of a median-income worker saving over 30 years. The episode also explores how employer matching and the SECURE Act 2.0's provisions—like the new Roth...

In this episode of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how the $10,000 limit on state and local tax (SALT) deductions, introduced by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, has reshaped state tax policy and individual behavior through mid-2026. They examine how high-tax states like New York, California, and New Jersey responded with workarounds such as charitable contribution funds and payroll tax s...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into a specific, lasting effect of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: how the reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent reshaped business investment, share buybacks, and debt financing. They focus on the behavior of S&P 500 companies in the years following the law, citing data from the Congressional Research Service showing that the effecti...

In Episode 91 of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna drill into a durable myth in American tax politics: that the federal estate tax routinely forces families to sell farms and small businesses to pay the tax bill. They walk through the actual exemption amounts in 2026 — roughly $13.6 million per person, $27.2 million per married couple — and examine IRS data on estate tax returns filed. The ho...

In Episode 90 of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna drill into the tax implications of gig economy income, focusing on the distinction between employee and independent contractor status. They break down the self-employment tax, the Qualified Business Income deduction (Section 199A), and the recent IRS enforcement push targeting misclassification in the ride-share and delivery sectors. Using th...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the marriage penalty in the US tax code — how getting married can increase a couple's tax bill by thousands of dollars. They break down the history of the penalty, how it interacts with the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and why two-earner couples are hit hardest. Using a concrete example of a dual-income household earning $200,000 combined, they calculate the...

Episode 88 of The Tax Policy Podcast with Fexingo looks at how state income tax rates influence where people choose to live and work. Lucas and Luna dig into new migration data from the Internal Revenue Service covering 2023 and 2024 filings, showing a net outflow from high-tax states like New York and California to no-income-tax states like Florida and Texas. They discuss the concept of 'tax elas...

The Child Tax Credit has been redesigned for 2026, with expanded eligibility and a more generous phase-in that reaches more low-income families. Lucas and Luna break down the specific changes: the new $3,600 per-child credit, the fully refundable structure, the income phase-out thresholds, and the impact on a typical family earning $50,000 a year. They compare it to the 2021 temporary expansion an...

Nearly thirty years after it became law, the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 continues to influence U.S. fiscal policy, investment behavior, and homeownership patterns. Lucas and Luna unpack three lasting provisions: the reduction of capital gains tax rates, the creation of the Roth IRA, and the expansion of the child tax credit. They trace how these changes reshaped retirement savings, encouraged lon...

Episode 85 of The Tax Policy Podcast explores the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap enacted in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Hosts Lucas and Luna examine how the $10,000 limit on itemizing state and local taxes reshaped fiscal policy in high-tax states like New York, California, and New Jersey. They discuss the 'workaround' strategies states adopted—such as charitable contribution credits...

In this episode of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT)—a 3.8 percent surtax that applies to investment earnings above certain income thresholds. We explore how this tax, originally enacted to fund the Affordable Care Act, now affects high-income households, with real numbers: someone filing single with modified adjusted gross income above $200,000...

Episode 83 of The Tax Policy Podcast digs into tax expenditures—the $1.5 trillion annual revenue loss from deductions, exclusions, and credits. Lucas and Luna focus on the mortgage interest deduction as a case study: who claims it, who doesn't, and why economists call it an upside-down subsidy. The hosts trace the deduction's history, its concentration among high-income filers (only 8% of househol...

In this episode of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore Tax Increment Financing (TIF), a tool cities use to fund infrastructure by capturing future property tax gains from new development. Using the example of a mid-sized Rust Belt city that revitalized its downtown with a TIF district, they break down how TIF works, who benefits, and the risks—like schools losing revenue. By mid-2026, o...

Lucas and Luna explore how tariffs function as a de facto consumption tax on American households, using the 2018–2019 trade war as a case study. They break down the economic mechanism by which import duties raise prices for consumers, citing research from the Federal Reserve and the Peterson Institute that found the costs of tariffs were almost entirely passed through to US buyers. The hosts also...