The Deduction

Ten years ago, then-Speaker Paul Ryan and Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady released the "Better Way" Tax Plan — the blueprint that would eventually become the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In this special anniversary episode of The Deduction, hosts Erica York and Kyle Hulehan sit down with the plan's original architects to talk through how it came together, the bold bets they made (and the ones that didn't pan out, like the border adjustment tax), what a decade of hindsight reveals about its economic impact, and where tax reform goes from here.

GUESTS
Paul Ryan — Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; former Chairman, House Ways and Means Committee
Kevin Brady — Former Chairman, House Ways and Means Committee

HOSTS
Erica York & Kyle Hulehan, Tax Foundation

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Cold Open: The Walgreens Story
0:35 – Welcome to The Deduction
1:19 – How the Better Way Tax Plan Began
3:12 – Becoming Speaker and Ways & Means Chair
4:57 – Why They Decided to "Go Bold"
6:18 – The Vision: Ending Corporate Inversions
7:33 – Destination-Based Cash Flow Tax & Border Adjustment
9:58 – Designing a Tax Code Built for Growth
10:53 – The 2019 Results: Wages, Poverty & Inequality
14:01 – Why Border Adjustment Didn't Survive Politically
19:37 – The Corporate Rate as the "Crown Jewel"
22:14 – Stopping the Inversion Wave
23:36 – What's the Next Motivator for Tax Reform?
25:22 – Kevin's Wishlist: What They'd Still Change
27:21 – House vs. Senate: What Got Left on the Table
28:57 – Revenue Neutrality and the National Debt
30:38 – Winning Over Industry: Building Trust
32:10 – The Case for Entitlement Reform
34:07 – Fixing a Broken Budget Process
38:23 – Final Thoughts: Why Think Tanks Matter
39:51 – The Tax Foundation's Role Then and Now

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Most Americans don't understand how the tax code works, and it's costing them. In this episode of The Deduction, host Kyle Hulehan sits down with Zoe Callaway, VP of Education at Tax Foundation, to talk about tax and financial literacy in America. They dig into the results of Tax Foundation's national survey on tax literacy, the most stubborn misconceptions people have about taxes (including one that nearly made a teacher turn down her own promotion), and what's happening in high school classrooms across the country. They also connect everyday tax confusion to bigger policy questions, from tariffs to tax refunds.

📧 Questions? Email us at podcast@taxfoundation.org
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Should you have to file a tax return in a state where you babysat for one hour? In 22 states, the answer is technically yes.

In this episode of The Deduction, host Kyle Hulehan and co-host Erica York sit down with Katherine Loughead, Director of State Tax Projects at the Tax Foundation, to break down the tangled mess of state nonresident income tax laws — and why they're a growing problem in the remote work era.

Katherine walks us through how credits for taxes paid to other states are supposed to prevent double taxation, why "convenience rules" in 8 states can saddle remote workers with two full tax bills, how a wild patchwork of filing thresholds creates confusion for workers and employers alike, and what reforms states should adopt to simplify the system.

📄 READ THE FULL PAPER:
"Nonresident Income Tax Filing and Withholding Laws by State, 2026"
https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/nonresident-income-tax-filing/

📄 RELATED: "State Individual Income Taxes on Nonresidents: Remote Work & Hybrid Work"
https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/state/state-income-taxes-nonresidents/

📄 "How Burdensome Are Your State's Nonresident Income Tax Filing Laws?" (Interactive Map)
https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/nonresident-income-tax-filing-laws/

📄 Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act
https://taxfoundation.org/blog/complicated-state-taxes-business-travelers/

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HOSTS & GUEST:

Kyle Hulehan — Host, Senior Marketing Associate & Creative Producer
Tax Foundation: https://taxfoundation.org/about-us/staff/kyle-hulehan

Erica York — Co-Host, Vice President of Federal Tax Policy
Tax Foundation: https://taxfoundation.org/about-us/staff/erica-york
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ericadyork
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/erica-york-a68ab474
Substack: https://ericadyork.substack.com

Katherine Loughead — Guest, Director of State Tax Projects
Tax Foundation: https://taxfoundation.org/about-us/staff/katherine-loughead
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/KELoughead
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/katherine-e-loughead-6020a568

———

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Website: https://taxfoundation.org
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/TaxFoundation

📬 Have a question? Email us at podcast@taxfoundation.org or DM @DeductionPod on Twitter.

#taxes #remotework #statetaxes #taxfiling #incometax #taxreform #taxfoundation #deduction #podcast #workfromhome
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On April 2, 2025, President Trump announced sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs on Liberation Day, promising an investment boom, massive revenue, debt reduction, and lower prices. One year later, Kyle Hulehan and Erica York dig into the data to see how those promises held up.

0:00 - Liberation Day speech recap
2:00 - Were the tariffs actually "reciprocal"?
5:30 - The real math behind the tariff formula
10:00 - Market reactions and policy chaos
14:00 - The promised investment boom that never arrived
17:30 - Tariff revenue vs. projections and the national debt
22:00 - Who actually paid the tariffs?
25:30 - Business uncertainty and real-world impacts
29:30 - Could any version of these tariffs have worked?
36:00 - The five broken promises of Liberation Day
37:00 - What comes next after the Supreme Court ruling

Resources:
Tax Foundation Tariff Tracker: https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/trump-tariffs-trade-war/
Tax Foundation Trade & Tariff Research: https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/topics/trade/
Subscribe to the Tax Foundation: https://taxfoundation.org/subscribe/
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AI is everywhere, and now it's in the tax policy debate. In this episode of The Deduction, hosts Kyle Hulehan and Erica York sit down with Alex Muresianu, Senior Policy Analyst at the Tax Foundation. Together they examine what current labor market data actually shows, why proposals from Senators Sanders and Kelly risk backfiring, and what smarter reforms like worker retraining deductions and consumption-based taxation would strengthen the tax code no matter how the AI story unfolds.

Connect with the Guests
Kyle Hulehan — Host, Senior Marketing Associate and Creative Producer Tax Foundation: taxfoundation.org/about-us/staff/kyle-hulehan 
Erica York — Co-Host, Vice President of Federal Tax Policy Tax Foundation: taxfoundation.org/about-us/staff/erica-york Twitter/X: @ericadyork LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/erica-york-a68ab474 Substack: ericadyork.substack.com
Alex Muresianu — Senior Policy Analyst, Federal Tax Policy Tax Foundation: taxfoundation.org/about-us/staff/alex-muresianu Twitter/X: @ahardtospell LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alex-muresianu-2b1802181

Related Reading
"When Taxing AI, Don't Reinvent the Wheel" — Alex Muresianu, Tax Foundation
The Deduction Podcast
Questions? Email: podcast@taxfoundation.org | Twitter: @DeductionPod
Support the show
Follow us!
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