Which Presidential Candidate Can Avoid Impending Tax Hikes Without Busting the Budget?

The coming taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. hikes in 2026 demand that presidential candidates move beyond rhetoric to explain how they will steer the debate toward a tax code that prioritizes economic growth while responsibly managing the federal budget.

The expiration date on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 is rapidly approaching. Come 2026, most taxpayers will be in for a tax hike. This major policy shift will provide a salient opportunity for the next president to influence U.S. tax policy — and taxpayers’ tax bills. But you wouldn’t know it by perusing candidate websites or tuning into the GOP debates.

The TCJA reduced most of the seven individual income taxAn individual income tax (or personal income tax) is levied on the wages, salaries, investments, or other forms of income an individual or household earns. The U.S. imposes a progressive income tax where rates increase with income. The Federal Income Tax was established in 1913 with the ratification of the 16th Amendment. Though barely 100 years old, individual income taxes are the largest source of tax revenue in the U.S. rates, including lowering the top rate from 39.6% to 37%. It also doubled the child tax creditA tax credit is a provision that reduces a taxpayer’s final tax bill, dollar-for-dollar. A tax credit differs from deductions and exemptions, which reduce taxable income, rather than the taxpayer’s tax bill directly. , nearly doubled the standard deductionThe standard deduction reduces a taxpayer’s taxable income by a set amount determined by the government. It was nearly doubled for all classes of filers by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) as an incentive for taxpayers not to itemize deductions when filing their federal income taxes. , and simplified the tax filing process by cutting back on itemized deductions, among numerous other changes.