Ryan’s health care blueprint. House Speaker Paul Ryan has described his vision of what “replace” means in the GOP’s mantra of repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. His plan includes three key tax elements—a refundable credit to help subsidize the cost of insurance, greatly expanded health savings accounts, and a lite version of the ACA’s Cadillac Tax. No description in the plan of the size of the health credit, how it would be implemented, or what it would cost.
The Social Security and Medicare Trustees weigh in. Their conclusion: The Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund will be tapped out by 2023; the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund will be out of money by 2028; and Social Security’s old-age trust fund will be empty by 2035.
Today at TPC. It’s the sixth annual IRS-TPC Joint Research Conference on Tax Administration. Researchers from the IRS, other government agencies, academia, and private organizations will discuss some of the latest ideas for improving tax administration. Space is limited, but the presentations and discussions will be streamed live from 9am to 4:30pm.
ETAAC releases its latest report. The Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee released its annual report to Congress. One key suggestion: The agency should delay refunds until it can positively identify a taxpayer. The committee makes recommendations on issues such as the IRS Future State Initiative, ways to better combat fraud and bolster compliance, and improvements in IRS electronic capabilities to help taxpayers before, during and after filing.
Is a universal basic income the wrong answer to right question? TPC’s Gene Steuerle considers the debate. “We want to be sure we don’t discourage work in an economy already facing unprecedentedly low levels of labor force growth. And while combining and simplifying programs makes sense, it can’t be done in one easy step.”
The richest man in Hong Kong wants higher corporate taxes. The chairman of CK Hutchison Holding Ltd., Li Ka-shing, said raising corporate taxes by one or two percent would help tackle wealth inequality and improve education and health care funding. One in seven Hong Kong residents live in households earning less than $2,100 a month. The 10 richest billionaires in the city have wealth exceeding one-third of Hong Kong’s annual economic output. Its economy has contracted 0.4 percent in this year’s first quarter compared to last year’s.
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