We link below to distribution tables for the tax reform proposal put forward by the Bipartisan Policy Center Debt Reduction Task Force on November 17, 2010. We provide estimates for the plan as it would look in 2022, 10 years after its proposed enactment, evaluated at 2018 income levels. We...
Originally posted November 16, 2010. Updated on November 18, 2010, to include analyses in which only the income tax expenditures are eliminated but payroll tax expenditures remain. Updated again on November 24, 2010, to include an additional option that would retain 80 percent of the tax...
Eugene Steuerles response Henry Aaron in a point-counterpoint debate about Americas fiscal struggles. This discourse includes agreement and disagreement, yet is honestly presented without the noise and confusion that often surround these issues. Steuerles and Aarons essays and responses to each...
As the economy begins to recover from the Great Recession, policymakers must confront the next fiscal challenge: the long-run federal deficit. The first opportunity to do so is the impending expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts: full extension of all of the cuts would increase the deficit by...
The tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003, known as the Bush tax cuts, are set to expire Dec. 31, and the fight over what to do is increasingly heated. Should the tax cuts expire, as some Democrats have said? Should they be extended, as most Republicans maintain? Or does the answer lie somewhere in...
The Wyden-Gregg tax reform proposal would represent a broad reform of the federal income tax system. This paper examines the plan's impact on individuals' effective marginal tax rates (EMTR), the incremental amount of tax owed on an additional dollar of income. We examine the impact on the EMTR...
Institute Fellow Gene Steuerle testifies on tax reform, its role in budget reform, deficits, income distribution issues, tax gaps, and budget expenditures. Real budget reform, he says, means lower taxes and better spending.
The Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010 ("Wyden-Gregg," introduced as S. 3018) is a broad reform of the federal income tax system. Some provisions would also expand the Social Security payroll tax base. This paper presents the Tax Policy Center's estimates of the revenue and...
Distribution Estimates for Bipartisan Policy Center Tax Reform Proposal
We link below to distribution tables for the tax reform proposal put forward by the Bipartisan Policy Center Debt Reduction Task Force on November 17, 2010. We provide estimates for the plan as it would look in 2022, 10 years after its proposed enactment, evaluated at 2018 income levels. We...
UPDATED: Distributional Estimates for Several Variants of Option 1 of the Bowles-Simpson "Chairmen's Mark"
Originally posted November 16, 2010. Updated on November 18, 2010, to include analyses in which only the income tax expenditures are eliminated but payroll tax expenditures remain. Updated again on November 24, 2010, to include an additional option that would retain 80 percent of the tax...
The Bush Tax Cuts: The Least Effective Stimulus
In a New York Times op-ed, Bill Gale explains why extending the Bush tax cuts would provide little economic stimulus and would be bad fiscal policy.
Why We Must Untie Our Fiscal Straightjacket: A Response to Henry J. Aaron
Eugene Steuerles response Henry Aaron in a point-counterpoint debate about Americas fiscal struggles. This discourse includes agreement and disagreement, yet is honestly presented without the noise and confusion that often surround these issues. Steuerles and Aarons essays and responses to each...
The Debate over Expiring Tax Cuts: What about the Deficit?
As the economy begins to recover from the Great Recession, policymakers must confront the next fiscal challenge: the long-run federal deficit. The first opportunity to do so is the impending expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts: full extension of all of the cuts would increase the deficit by...
Five Myths about the Bush Tax Cut
The tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003, known as the Bush tax cuts, are set to expire Dec. 31, and the fight over what to do is increasingly heated. Should the tax cuts expire, as some Democrats have said? Should they be extended, as most Republicans maintain? Or does the answer lie somewhere in...
The Future of Individual Tax Rates: Effects of Economic Growth and Distribution
Leonard Burman's testimony before the Senate Committee on Finance on whether and how to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.
The Impact of the Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010 ("Wyden-Gregg") on Effective Marginal Tax Rates
The Wyden-Gregg tax reform proposal would represent a broad reform of the federal income tax system. This paper examines the plan's impact on individuals' effective marginal tax rates (EMTR), the incremental amount of tax owed on an additional dollar of income. We examine the impact on the EMTR...
Reforming Taxes as Part of Budget Reform
Institute Fellow Gene Steuerle testifies on tax reform, its role in budget reform, deficits, income distribution issues, tax gaps, and budget expenditures. Real budget reform, he says, means lower taxes and better spending.
Preliminary Revenue Estimates and Distributional Analysis of the Tax Provisions in the Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010
The Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010 ("Wyden-Gregg," introduced as S. 3018) is a broad reform of the federal income tax system. Some provisions would also expand the Social Security payroll tax base. This paper presents the Tax Policy Center's estimates of the revenue and...