Retargeting the estate tax to very wealthy households and lowering its rates would blunt much of the criticism against it while retaining many of its advantages. This brief explains how the estate tax works and examines who is affected by it under current law. It discusses how reform would...
[Los Angeles Times] If you thought this year's tax bill was a burden, wait until you see your "share" of government spending in 2050. Tax Policy Center codirector Len Burman looks into the future according to CBO and sees a number of doomsday scenarios looming. Among them are a doubling...
In this commentary, Len Burman argues that if Congress can't reform the tax system, the next best thing would be to just leave it alone. Constant tinkering just adds to complexity.
The President was in North Carolina and Pennsylvania today. He's been stumping like a candidate to win support for his changes to Social Security and cuts in the budget. In Detroit, Mr. Bush said it's time to eliminate the programs that don't deliver on their promises. Commentator and tax expert...
Some have called for eliminating the itemized deduction for state and local income and property taxes as part of tax reform. This Tax Facts column looks at the states most affected by the current deduction and some aspects of repeal.
[Marketplace] While everyone is focusing on those things President Bush and Senator John Kerry disagree about, perhaps they should be paying attention to those things on which they do agree. Senior fellow and Tax Policy Center co-director, Len Burman, takes a look at what he calls the "...
In this commentary for Marketplace, Len Burman argues that the government's faith in free-market solutions to public policy issues is contradicted by its position against private testing of cattle for Mad Cow disease.
Tax cut advocates favor lower taxes and smaller government, but so far they've gotten lower taxes and bigger government. In this Marketplace commentary, Len Burman argues that the resulting deficits will translate into much higher taxes in the future, especially on those with high...
In a satirical piece for Public Radio International's Marketplace, Len Burman announces his presidential candidacy built upon one issue: abolishing all taxes. The piece is a humorous attempt to highlight the problems raised by unrestrained deficit spending.
Republican leaders in Congress have refused to raise the federal debt limit unless the Biden Administration agrees to major spending reductions to reduce the national...
Congress should eliminate the debt ceiling this year. It serves no useful purpose. It doesn’t contribute to fiscal discipline, and breaching it entails large, potentially,...
On April 1, 2002, a press release announced, “The Tax Policy Center, a new joint venture between the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution” was...
Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) recently asked for an investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s research activities, including its use of contractors...
Partisan congressional squabbling over the nation’s debt limit once again threatens to shut down the federal government and perhaps trigger a worldwide financial crisis. The...
President Biden has proposed to tax capital gains earned by high-income households more like other income. This is a significant reform that would close loopholes...
Capitalism produces a dizzying array of products and, in the process, generates an enormous amount of wealth. But capitalism creates a problem in that the...
In 1970, Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute got a Moog synthesizer —a giant, unwieldy computer that created music. The sound was weird and quite evidently electronic. My...
Congress is about to pass a massive economic stimulus package that will, among other things, send cash to most American households. The so-called rebates amount...
On Friday, Elizabeth Warren released her financing plan for Medicare for All . It is predictably wonky and politically courageous—new spending is way more popular...
In Open: The Progressive Case for Free Trade, Immigration, and Global Capital , Kimberly Clausing has written a comprehensive and accessible analysis of three of...
The Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently agreed that OMB would review many tax regulations before they are released, a...
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) just introduced the ‘‘ Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act ’’ (or Stop-BEZOS) that would punish...
During primary season in 2000, I came upon my boss—a longtime Democratic insider—reading John McCain's tax plan. “It’s really good,” he said, and a lot...
