Richard Rubin

JCT is live streaming its 100th birthday celebration on March 4. (I'm on the panel) www.jct.gov/live-stream/

"documented forever for posterity WSJ wife guy"

The Tax Nerd Who Bet His Life Savings Against DOGE Until Elon Musk came roaring into the nation’s capital, Alan Cole was largely a plain-vanilla investor.

I’ve got a fun one this morning.

If you saw what you thought was a surefire money-making opportunity to go all-in, would you do it?

Alan Cole did, and here's what happened:

www.wsj.com/finance/inve...

Filing season statistics for week ending Feb. 6, 2026 | Internal Revenue Service Cumulative statistics comparing February 2025 and February 2026.

New: The first batch of IRS filing season data is up.

www.irs.gov/newsroom/fil...

www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

U.S. Budget Hole Set to Deepen by Trillions The budget deficit will widen over the next decade as interest costs consume an increasing share of spending, the CBO said in a forecast that highlighted the country’s long-run fiscal challenges.

New from me:

The updated CBO baseline is out and there's a lot of red ink.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Trump’s Tax Law Sharply Cuts Amazon’s Corporate Tax Bill Breaks for investment and research lowered the company’s payments to the U.S. government.

New from me: Trump's tax law was a big win for Amazon.

The company's US profit went up and its US taxes went down.

www.wsj.com/business/tru...

New Tax Break for Private-School Scholarships Sets Off Power Struggle Incoming money, expected in the billions, is prompting a lobbying battle over how much control states will have

New from me: The fight over shaping the school-choice tax credit is happening.

Among the big questions is how much state control and regulation there will be.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Doesn't the GILTI line below give part of that back?

One bit to note:

There's a Trump EO forbidding govt lawyers from taking legal positions contradicting positions advanced by POTUS or AG. So what happens here?

Trump DOJ argued in November that Littlejohn wasn't IRS employee and thus US can't be sued.

Now Trump is making the opposite argument.

Trump Lawsuit Against IRS Puts Him on Both Sides of the Same Case President Trump’s lawsuit against the government that he runs presents a mind-bending minefield of conflicts that could end with his appointees approving a federal payout to him.

New from us: Trump's tax-disclosure lawsuit against the government he runs is mind-bending.

He supervises the private attorneys demanding at least $10 billion in damages--and also the government attorneys authorized to settle the case and pay him with federal money.

www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Yes. The tax code section in question -- 7431 -- specifically authorizes suits against the government for taxpayer privacy breaches when an officer or employee of the US is at fault.

Trump Sues Treasury Department, IRS Over Tax Return Leak The president, his two eldest sons and business are named as plaintiffs in a civil complaint that seeks at least $10 billion in damages.

Here's our updated full story on Trump suing the government he runs and demanding $10 billion.

Tax code Sec. 7431 in the spotlight and all sorts of complicated questions looming for Treasury/IRS/DOJ.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Global Minimum Tax Deal Makes GE Aerospace Pay More to Singapore The new global minimum corporate tax took a bite out of GE Aerospace's bottom line last year and prompted the company to pay more taxes in Singapore. Key pieces of the agreement among 140 countries to...

Global minimum tax is getting real -- like basically erasing the GE Aerospace special tax rate in Singapore.

www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

Companies Reveal Big Mystery: Where They Pay Taxes and How Much Netflix and Intel are some of the first to comply with a new accounting rule that requires more details about corporate tax payments.

New from us: It's not just tax season. It's 10-K season too.

And this year, we're getting more granular information on where companies paid cash taxes.

First up with the new-style disclosures are Netflix, Intel and SLB.

www.wsj.com/articles/com...

Trump’s High-Stakes Bid to Dole Out $100 Billion More in Tax Refunds The Republican strategy puts pressure on a shrunken IRS to get cash out quickly—and bets on taxpayers to return the favor in midterm elections this fall.

Tax season is here, featuring much larger expected refunds.

That was an intentional strategy by Republicans to draw attention to their tax cuts, to make voters notice that they're getting something.

Will it work?

My story:

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

1 and 2 are especially interesting. 3, I would think we would have seen in share-price declines?

Right, but stocks were similarly up in 2023 and 2024.

U.S. Income Tax Revenue Surges In January The U.S. has collected $113 billion in individual income tax revenue outside of paycheck withholding so far this year, a 52% jump over last year even though Congress cut taxes. The Treasury Department...

Some 👀revenue numbers here.

Non-withheld individual income tax collections, including the Jan. 15 estimated payments, up 52% over January 2025.

Theories welcome and encouraged!

www.wsj.com/livecoverage... via @wsj

U.S. Companies Score Wins in Global Tax Deal Trump administration issued threats but stayed inside global talks—and bent them its way

The U.S. threatened to walk away from the global minimum corporate tax deal. It stayed -- and won concessions for U.S.-based companies.

My latest:

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

IRS Takes a New Shot at Meta’s Irish Tax Strategy U.S. government seeks $16 billion as it alters approach in long-running court fight

New from me:

New from me: The IRS is taking a $16 billion shot at Meta Platforms' Irish tax maneuvers.

The government is using a novel approach, continuing a legal fight with the company that's dragged on for nearly a decade.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Corporate Tax Collections Drop as New Law Kicks In U.S. corporate tax collections for December declined sharply, following the enactment of Republicans’ “one big, beautiful bill,” according to data released Tuesday by the Treasury Department. Corporat...

We're seeing the OBBBA showing up in corporate tax receipts data.

www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

How Businesses Are Winning—and Losing—Under Trump’s Tax Law Firms that rely on pricey equipment are benefitting from a tax incentive known as “bonus depreciation.” The Wall Street Journal’s Richard Rubin takes us to the Gulf Coast to learn why.

Tax video!

Here's my piece of the WSJ's video series on Trump's year.

www.wsj.com/video/how-bu...

Trump Administration Scraps Plan to Mint Quarters Featuring Abolition, Suffrage The move comes as a controversial $1 Trump coin for the nation’s 250th birthday is also being considered.

Treasury released final designs of special quarters celebrating the nation's 250th birthday. They altered a prior plan honoring major movements during U.S. history.

Out: Abolition, suffrage, civil rights.

In: Mayflower Compact, Revolutionary War, Gettysburg Address.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

EXCLUSIVE: Federal tax prosecutions fell to their lowest level in decades this year, declining more than 27% from the year before as the Trump administration cut the ranks of attorneys and agents who pursue those cases, a Reuters examination has found.

www.reuters.com/world/tax-pr...

Appears to -- category 5123 is customs and other import duties.

Tax Levels Are Setting New Record Highs—But Not in the U.S. The U.S. is—still —a low-tax country. In 2024, the U.S. collected 25.6% of gross domestic product in revenue, holding flat from 2023, a new tally from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Dev...

The U.S. is -- still -- a low-tax country.

Latest data show OECD tax levels hitting a record high as the U.S. stays flat:

www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

true. still, not to be super economic determinist, but 7% real GDP growth in 84 and close to 4% in 96 probably didn't hurt.

I regret to inform you that dana carvey is 70.

ok good - because I half-worry that it wouldn't and that would be disappointing.

Does it hold up on 30+ years later rewatch?