Henry J. Aaron testifies before the House Judiciary Committee, arguing that despite the relatively high levels of current government debt and the budget challenges that the nation faces in the future, instituting a federal balanced budget amendment would negatively impact the economy and threaten
This paper makes two key points. First, coal production is no longer a reliable source of revenue to fund the Black Lung Program. Second, the problem is going to get worse fast, and policymakers should promptly prepare for that and ensure that coal workers are not left behind. As the coal industry
Tax expenditures are the revenue losses attributable to special provisions in tax laws that reduce taxes for certain sources or uses of income or for certain groups of taxpayers. They are called tax expenditures because many of them effectively serve the same function as direct spending programs
The breathlessly-hyped debate between President Obama and Governor Romney left me with an empty feeling. There were many words--oh, there were words-- but even the...
On Friday, congressional Democrats released the results of a new analysis of base-broadening, rate-cutting tax reform by the Joint Committee on Taxation. For reformers everywhere...
Preliminary distribution of 2015 federal tax change, by cash income percentile, from Option 1 as put forward by the co-chairs of the Obama fiscal reform commission. This table shows the distribution of a variant of the plan that would eliminate all tax expenditures except the Child Tax Credit and
Preliminary distribution of 2015 federal tax change, by cash income percentile, from Option 1 as put forward by the co-chairs of the Obama fiscal reform commission. This table shows the distribution of a variant of the plan that would eliminate all tax expenditures except the Child Tax Credit and
Distribution by cash income percentile for the benefits of provisions including the Hope and Lifetime Learning credits, the child and dependent care credit, the student loan interest deduction, the home mortgage interest deduction, the EITC, the state and local tax deduction, and tax incentives for
Distribution of benefits from provisions including the Hope and Lifetime Learning credits, the student loan interest deduction, the home mortgage interest deduction, the state and local property tax deduction, the EITC, the child and dependent care credit, and tax incentives for retirement savings.
In the recent contretemps over Mitt Romney’s tax plan, some Romney partisans have asserted that the Massachusetts governor’s revenue plank mimics the tax elements of...
It won’t be impossible for pay for substantial individual tax rate reductions by cutting tax expenditures. But it will be very, very hard. The challenges...
The tax code is chock full of credits, deductions, deferrals, exclusions, exemptions, and preferential rates. Taken together, such tax preferences will total almost $1.3 trillion...
Tax-deferred 401(k) plans may be a better deal for low-income workers than economists thought, according to new research by my Tax Policy Center colleague Eric...
Already, the Romney campaign insists that voters should pay no attention to Paul Ryan’s fiscal agenda. It is the Romney-Ryan tax and budget plan, they...
Alice Rivlin dies. She was founding Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Vice Chair of the...
The Senate’s bipartisan on again/off again Gang of Six has proposed an ambitious tax and spending package that closely follows the plan offered six months...
Back in the day—say 2011--tax fraud was pretty straightforward. Taxpayers deliberately understated income or overstated deductions to cheat the system for their own benefit. Not anymore. Now, a growing share of such fraud is about crooks using the identities of innocent taxpayers to steal money. If