The Tax Policy Center’s Resource Guide for Journalists Preparing Tax-Day Stories

To assist reporters who are doing pre-April 15 tax stories, the Tax Policy Center offers this quick resource guide. We hope it helps with some of the topics you are likely to address.

If you have questions not addressed here, you can find a Tax Policy Center expert using the Media Resources section of our website. Just choose your topic from drop-down lists and you’ll find phone numbers for our experts.

TOPICS

• The Taxes We Pay
• Fiscal Stimulus
• Alternative Minimum Tax
• Earned Income Tax Credit
• Retirement Plans
• The Tax Gap
• Costs and Complexity
• Tax Expenditures
• Itemized deductions and personal exemptions

The Taxes We Pay. We sort it out by income, age, and family situation.

• Who pays federal taxes?
• Payroll tax versus income tax
• –Current-law distribution of taxes

Fiscal Stimulus. What did Congress do, what does it mean for taxpayers (and non-taxpayers), and does it make economic sense?

• Quick Facts on fiscal stimulus and the Economic Stimulus bill
• Examples of Rebates for Single People
• Examples of Rebates for Married Couples

Alternative Minimum Tax. Late in 2007, Congress adjusted AMT rules for this filing season. Here is a rundown on what Congress did and what it means.

• Quick Facts on the AMT
• Key Elements of the AMT: Tax Policy Center Briefing Book

Earned Income Tax Credit. How does it work? Who benefits?

• What is the Earned Income Tax Credit? Tax Policy Center Briefing Book
• History and Analysis of the EITC: NTA Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy

Retirement Plans. IRAs, Roths, 401(k)s--sort through the different rules.

• What kinds of tax-favored accounts are there? and other questions: Tax Policy Center Briefing Book
• “Taxpayer Eligibility for IRAs”—rules mean fewer married couples may contribute to IRAs
• Pensions and Retirement Savings: summaries and links to TPC research on retirement plans
• More on IRAs and 401(k)s

The Tax Gap. How much of the taxes people owe does the government fail to collect?

• What is the tax gap? and other questions: Tax Policy Center Briefing Book
• Reducing the Tax Gap: The Illusion of Pain-Free Deficit Reduction
• IRS commissioner Mark Everson's testimony on "The FY 2008 IRS Budget and the Tax Gap"

Costs and Complexity. How costly is it for taxpayers to file returns in our complex tax system?

• Tax Simplification: How costly is complexity? and other questions: Tax Policy Center Briefing Book
• The Effects of Tax Software and Paid Preparers on Compliance Costs
• Can Tax Time Be Less Burdensome? Transcript of a 2005 TPC forum on tax filing

Tax Expenditures. In recent years, Congress has used the tax system to conduct social policies ranging from helping families buy homes and pay for college to encouraging saving for retirement and subsidizing employment-based health insurance. Here are data on the amount of tax savings those policies involve.

• What are the largest tax expenditures? and other questions: Tax Policy Center Briefing Book
• “Don’t Ignore Tax Expenditures” — Marketplace commentary by Len Burman

Itemized deductions and personal exemptions. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions are reduced for high-income taxpayers, but those phaseouts are being gradually eliminated by 2001 tax cut legislation.

• What are the phaseouts of itemized deductions and personal exemptions?
• Details on itemized deduction phaseout.
• Details on personal exemption phaseout.
• Whom does the 2001 tax act’s reduction of the phaseouts affect?
  • More than half of the benefit of the reduction in Pease and PEP in 2006 went to taxpayers with income over $1 million.
  • Over 80 percent of the savings in 2006 went to the top 1 percent of tax payers
• Options to modify or repeal Pease and PEP

Other Questions?

If you have questions about the federal income tax or other tax issues,
talk with a TPC expert.