Consider an employer who bears an equal cost for their employees and must choose between the proposed subsidy for those on the exchange and the current subsidy for those who get employer-provided health insurance. What are the consequences for the employee? This article discusses the results for...
Ted Gayer testified before the Senate Energy Committee that a carbon tax is the most economically efficient way to address climate change. While it might be politically unpopular, he says, it is well worth considering because it helps generate public revenues that can be used to offset...
The Internal Revenue Code has replaced traditional means-tested programs as the principal means for transferring income to low earners. The largest vehicle is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), now supplemented by both the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Making Work Pay tax credit (MWP). ...
The Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit (CTC), Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), and the dependent exemption all provide benefits to families with children. In 2009, a single mom (or dad) with two children can receive benefits ranging from $0 to about $7,500 - depending on her income,...
The alternative minimum tax (AMT), which originally targeted high-income taxpayers, requires annual legislation to prevent it from affecting millions of middle-income individuals each year. There are two primary reasons for the AMTs broadening impact; its parameters are not indexed for inflation...
In this posting for the New York Regional Association of Foundations (NYRAG). Gene Steuerle speculates on why foundations have often been absent from such major policy turns as major tax reform, some EITC increases, large budget changes that indirectly squeezed programs of interest to the...
President Obama's tax reform task force has been asked to propose ways to close the $300 billion tax gap, which is the estimated difference between taxes owed and taxes paid either voluntarily or through enforcement. But the amount of money lost to legal tax avoidance - the difference between an...
The Volcker task force on tax reform, part of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, faces a daunting task that is made materially more difficult by ex ante constraints placed on its purview and recommendations. Broad-based reform proposals seem to be out of the question, and...
To encourage better retirement saving, President Obama recently proposed policies that would require firms without retirement savings plans to automatically enroll their workers in IRAs. In addition, the president proposed an expansion of the Saver's Credit to be fully refundable and available...
The House leadership has proposed to finance health care reform with a surtax on adjusted gross income (AGI) of high-income individuals, while the president's budget would increase the two top marginal tax rates on taxable income. Income taxed at statutory marginal rates is 58 percent of AGI for...
Comparing Subsidies for the House and Senate Health Care Bills
Consider an employer who bears an equal cost for their employees and must choose between the proposed subsidy for those on the exchange and the current subsidy for those who get employer-provided health insurance. What are the consequences for the employee? This article discusses the results for...
On the Merits of a Carbon Tax
Ted Gayer testified before the Senate Energy Committee that a carbon tax is the most economically efficient way to address climate change. While it might be politically unpopular, he says, it is well worth considering because it helps generate public revenues that can be used to offset...
Considerations in Efforts to Restructure Work-Based Credits
The Internal Revenue Code has replaced traditional means-tested programs as the principal means for transferring income to low earners. The largest vehicle is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), now supplemented by both the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Making Work Pay tax credit (MWP).
...
Credits and Exemptions for Children
The Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit (CTC), Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), and the dependent exemption all provide benefits to families with children. In 2009, a single mom (or dad) with two children can receive benefits ranging from $0 to about $7,500 - depending on her income,...
The Individual Alternative Minimum Tax: Historical Data and Projections, Updated October 2009
The alternative minimum tax (AMT), which originally targeted high-income taxpayers, requires annual legislation to prevent it from affecting millions of middle-income individuals each year. There are two primary reasons for the AMTs broadening impact; its parameters are not indexed for inflation...
Why Are Foundations Often Absent From Major Policy Shifts?
In this posting for the New York Regional Association of Foundations (NYRAG). Gene Steuerle speculates on why foundations have often been absent from such major policy turns as major tax reform, some EITC increases, large budget changes that indirectly squeezed programs of interest to the...
Focus on the Tax 'Avoidance' Gap
President Obama's tax reform task force has been asked to propose ways to close the $300 billion tax gap, which is the estimated difference between taxes owed and taxes paid either voluntarily or through enforcement. But the amount of money lost to legal tax avoidance - the difference between an...
Remove the Return
The Volcker task force on tax reform, part of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, faces a daunting task that is made materially more difficult by ex ante constraints placed on its purview and recommendations. Broad-based reform proposals seem to be out of the question, and...
Automatic Enrollment in IRAs: Costs and Benefits
To encourage better retirement saving, President Obama recently proposed policies that would require firms without retirement savings plans to automatically enroll their workers in IRAs. In addition, the president proposed an expansion of the Saver's Credit to be fully refundable and available...
Taxing Adjusted Gross Income Instead of Taxable Income
The House leadership has proposed to finance health care reform with a surtax on adjusted gross income (AGI) of high-income individuals, while the president's budget would increase the two top marginal tax rates on taxable income. Income taxed at statutory marginal rates is 58 percent of AGI for...