Newsletter Archive

February 14, 2006

See below for the latest from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center:

• New Estimates of the Budget Outlook
  Alan Auerbach, William G. Gale and Peter Orszag
  January 31, 2006
• New Health Care Tax Proposals: Costly and Counterproductive
  Leonard E. Burman
  February 13, 2006
• Testimony on Tax Reform, National Retail Sales Taxes, and Small Businesses
  Leonard E. Burman
  February 1, 2006

New Estimates of the Budget Outlook
Alan Auerbach, William G. Gale and Peter Orszag
January 31, 2006

Despite substantial attention given to fiscal policy concerns in recent years, the federal government's fiscal status has continued to deteriorate, with the enactment of tax cuts, a massive new Medicare entitlement, increased spending on defense and homeland security, and related economic developments. This paper provides new estimates of the nation's fiscal status over both the 10-year and long-term horizon, based on a January 2006 Congressional Budget Office report.

New Health Care Tax Proposals: Costly and Counterproductive
Leonard E. Burman
February 13, 2006

The proposed tax incentives for high deductible health insurance policies and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) would make the tax system more complex, less fair, and add to our budget woes, especially over the long run. Perhaps most problematic, they are likely to exacerbate the problems in the health care market.

Testimony on Tax Reform, National Retail Sales Taxes, and Small Businesses
Leonard E. Burman
February 1, 2006

This Congressional testimony examines how the plans put forth by the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform would affect small businesses, focusing particularly on the effect of: adopting a national retail sales tax on small business and the viability of federal and state tax systems; the effect on small business health insurance and retirement coverage; the effect of disallowing state and local tax deductions for businesses; and the effect of certain simplification proposals.

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