The Biggest Tax Breaks in the United States
Tax breaks like credits and deductions—also known as tax expenditures—could reduce what you owe. On the flip side, they also cost the government trillions of dollars in foregone revenue.
In this Markets in a Minute from New York Life Investments, we rank the top 25 tax breaks by their forecast revenue impact over the next 10 years on the U.S. government.
Tax Expenditures Provisions
Tax expenditures are provisions within federal tax laws that result in government revenue losses. They can apply to individuals and/or corporations, and include a variety of things:
- Special exclusions
- Exemptions
- Deductions
- Special credits
- Preferential tax rates
- Tax deferrals
These expenditures are required by law to be included in the federal budget, and can be viewed as an alternative to other policy options such as direct spending. It’s important to note that when the budget is developed, revenue loss estimates are based on the assumption that all other parts of the tax code remain unchanged.
