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

Episode 55 of The Tax Policy Podcast examines how carbon taxes are driving real industrial change in 2026. Lucas and Luna walk through Canada's federal carbon pricing system, which now sits at 170 Canadian dollars per tonne, and how it has shifted investment decisions at companies like Lafarge and Daimler Truck. They discuss British Columbia's long-running carbon tax, the border adjustment mechani...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna unpack the mechanics and strategy behind Roth IRAs — retirement accounts funded with after-tax dollars that grow tax-free forever. They walk through the history: how the Roth IRA was created in 1997 by Senator William Roth, the original income limits, and how subsequent laws like the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and SECURE Acts expanded eligibility. Lucas explains the core...

Episode 53 of The Tax Policy Podcast unpacks Tax Increment Financing (TIF) — a tool cities use to fund redevelopment by capturing future property tax gains. Lucas and Luna walk through a typical TIF district: how a city freezes the tax base, issues bonds against projected increases, and uses the revenue to build infrastructure or subsidize development. They discuss concrete examples, including Chi...

In 2021, the American Rescue Plan temporarily transformed the Child Tax Credit into a monthly cash payment — cutting child poverty nearly in half before it expired. This episode traces the policy's origin, its brief experiment with monthly payments, and why it hasn't returned despite bipartisan interest. Lucas and Luna walk through the numbers: the 2021 expansion lifted 3.7 million children out of...

In this episode of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how the ongoing tariff war between the US and China is forcing companies to rethink global supply chains. They examine the case of a mid-sized manufacturer that moved production from China to Vietnam, only to face new tariffs there too. The hosts break down the economics of tariff-driven relocation, the rise of 'friendshoring,' and...

Episode 50 of The Tax Policy Podcast explores how sin taxes — excise taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and sugar-sweetened beverages — actually shape consumer behavior. Lucas and Luna examine the economics behind these taxes, using the 2022 Philadelphia soda tax as a specific case study. They discuss why sin taxes are regressive but effective, how elasticities predict consumption drops, and whether gover...

Episode 49 of The Tax Policy Podcast with Fexingo cuts through the political noise around the estate tax. Lucas and Luna explain the $13.99 million exemption per person for 2026, how portability works for married couples, and why fewer than 0.2% of estates actually owe a dime. They walk through a concrete example: a $15 million estate with no planning versus one using a bypass trust and charitable...

Property taxes are the largest single source of funding for public K-12 education in the United States, accounting for roughly 36% of all local school revenue. But reliance on property taxes creates deep inequities: a wealthy district can raise three times more per student than a poor one, even with the same tax rate. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down how property tax assessments work, wh...

Episode 47 of The Tax Policy Podcast with Fexingo demystifies how tax brackets work, using a concrete example of a single filer earning $75,000 in 2025. Lucas and Luna walk through marginal rates, the difference between marginal and effective tax rates, and common misconceptions like 'making less to stay in a lower bracket.' They also discuss how indexing for inflation works and why the Tax Cuts a...

In this episode of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down the corporate alternative minimum tax — the 15% minimum on book income for large corporations that was introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act. Lucas explains how the AMT differs from the regular corporate income tax, why it targets 'book income' rather than taxable income, and which companies are affected. Luna brings in real-...

Episode 45 of The Tax Policy Podcast with Fexingo dives into the mechanics of the electric vehicle tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act. Lucas and Luna break down how the $7,500 credit is not a simple rebate—it depends on battery sourcing, final assembly location, and buyer income limits. They explore why some popular EVs like Tesla's Model 3 qualify only partially, while others like the H...

Lucas and Luna unpack the mechanics of marginal tax brackets—how progressive rates really work, why a raise can't push you into a lower net income, and the common misconception that all income is taxed at the top rate. Using concrete examples with $50,000 and $120,000 incomes, they show how each bracket only applies to the dollars within that range. They also explore how indexing to inflation has...

In this episode of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down the payroll tax system that funds Social Security and Medicare. They explain the 12.4 percent Social Security tax on wages up to the annual cap ($168,600 in 2026), the 2.9 percent Medicare tax with no cap, and the additional 0.9 percent surcharge on high earners. Using the example of a typical worker earning $75,000 per year, the...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna unpack the mechanics of corporate tax havens. They focus on one concrete case: Bermuda, where more than 1,000 U.S. companies maintain a mailing address despite having few physical operations there. The hosts explain how profit shifting works through intercompany loans and transfer pricing, then zoom in on the OECD's global minimum tax deal agreed in 2021, which impo...

In Episode 41 of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how swings in tax revenue—especially from capital gains and corporate income—force state governments into fiscal whiplash. Using California's 2025-2026 budget crisis as a concrete case, they break down why revenue volatility matters more than tax rates for state planners, how rainy day funds actually work, and whether a progressive co...

Episode 40 of The Tax Policy Podcast explores how the R&D tax credit evolved from a modest incentive for innovation into a massive corporate subsidy worth $15 billion annually. Lucas and Luna break down the credit's origins in 1981, its expansion through the PATH Act and TCJA, and how companies like Amazon and pharmaceutical giants have used it to slash tax bills. They examine the debate over whet...

Episode 39 of The Tax Policy Podcast digs into the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) — the 3.8 percent surtax that quietly raises billions from real estate investors, high-income retirees, and passive business owners. Lucas and Luna walk through a concrete example: a retired couple selling a rental portfolio near Austin, Texas, and discover how the NIIT adds $47,000 to their tax bill. They explore...

Episode 38 of The Tax Policy Podcast digs into the digital services tax — a levy on revenue from user data and advertising that France, the UK, Italy, and others have adopted, and that the US calls discriminatory. Lucas explains how the DST works using the example of a large US tech company, why the OECD's stalled pillar one framework left countries to go it alone, and what a potential 2026 trade...

Lucas and Luna tackle the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit — Section 48C and 45X — which pays companies to produce solar wafers, battery components, and critical minerals in the United States. The Inflation Reduction Act expanded this credit in 2022, and by mid-2026 the Treasury has allocated over $10 billion in tax credits to projects from Michigan to Georgia. The episode zooms in on a si...

Episode 36 of The Tax Policy Podcast with Fexingo digs into Opportunity Zones—the tax incentive created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Lucas and Luna explore how the program was supposed to funnel investment into distressed communities, but instead has channeled billions into luxury hotels, self-storage units, and high-end apartment buildings in gentrifying neighborhoods. They examine the mech...

Episode 35 of The Tax Policy Podcast tackles the carried interest loophole — why private equity and hedge fund managers pay a lower tax rate on their performance fees than most middle-class workers pay on their salary. Lucas and Luna walk through how the tax code treats 'carried interest' as a capital gain rather than ordinary income, saving top fund managers tens of millions per year. They trace...

Lucas and Luna explore how tax treaties between countries prevent corporations and individuals from being taxed twice on the same income. They break down the mechanics of the OECD Model Tax Convention, residency vs. source-based taxation, and real-world friction points like treaty shopping and the recent global minimum tax agreement. Specific focus on how the US-Netherlands treaty affects multinat...

In this episode of The Tax Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna unpack the concept of the billionaire tax rate — why the very wealthiest often pay a lower effective tax rate than middle-class workers. They drill into a specific 2021 ProPublica investigation that analyzed IRS data on billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and Elon Musk. The hosts explain how unrealized capital gains, the 'buy, bor...

Episode 32 of The Tax Policy Podcast explores a seldom-discussed corner of tax law: how public pension funds — like CalPERS, the $500 billion California retirement system — operate in a tax-exempt universe. Lucas and Luna dig into the practical implications: when you're not paying taxes, do you still care about tax-efficient investing? The answer is surprisingly yes. From the pension fund's exempt...

Lucas and Luna unpack the Child Tax Credit's journey from a modest 1997 provision to the centerpiece of U.S. anti-poverty policy. They walk through the 2021 expansion that cut child poverty nearly in half, the post-expansion cliff when millions of families lost monthly payments, and the current legislative battle over a bipartisan bill that would restore parts of the credit. Along the way, they ex...