An Overview of Tax Expenditures

Tax expenditures affect almost every segment of the economy by changing the financial incentives for individuals, families, and businesses. For example, employer-paid health insurance premiums and other medical expenses can be excluded from a business’s taxable income, which incentivizes businesses to provide health insurance to their employees. Other tax expenditures make it less costly to support charity, reduce an individual’s tax burden if they save for retirement, and provide financial incentives to businesses to invest in economically distressed communities, among many other examples.