We provide estimates of the federal budget outlook based on new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis. CBO projects a debt-to-GDP ratio of 93 percent by fiscal year 2029 under current law, up from 78 percent today. Under a “current policy” scenario similar to CBO’s alternative fiscal scenario
The Roadmap for America's Future Act of 2010 is a detailed reform package that overhauls Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the U.S. federal tax system. In a January 27, 2010, report, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyzed the spending provisions of the plan. This paper presents the
Despite its relatively small role in the federal taxation system—accounting for less than 1 percent of revenues—the estate and gift tax is controversial. This brief surveys research on the effect of estate and inheritance taxes on entrepreneurship and presents new evidence. We find that receiving
In Part 1 of this exercise, TPC estimated the revenue and distributional effects of proposals that wouldeliminate almost all income tax expenditures to lower individual and corporate tax rates and maintain long-run revenue neutrality for the Federal tax system. The results of Part 1 showed that
Today's federal budget policies are unsustainable. Three programs - Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid - constitute more than 40 percent of spending other than interest in a normal year and all are growing faster than the economy and tax revenues. At the same time, Congress has kept the
The Senate Democrats’ budget, like the House version, rips unfair and inefficient tax preferences that litter the revenue code. But the tax provisions of the...
This report was updated on August 29, 2019, to correct a citation in box 7. Proposition 111, approved in California in 1990, was incorrectly cited as Proposition 11 with a year of 1991. Governors, lawmakers, and journalists often decry constitutional and statutory formulas, federal grant
Many elected officials emphasize reforms that would promote opportunity, but until they define how success would be measured, progress is unlikely. The federal government is scheduled to spend close to $15,000 more per household annually in another 10 years, but little of that increase goes to
Tracy Gordon, senior fellow, testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on the Budget for a hearing on “Why Federal Investments Matter: Stability from Congress to State Capitals.” In her testimony she notes that while states and localities are key economic players and service
While often called soda taxes, these sugar sweetened beverage taxes also apply to iced teas, fruit drinks, sports drinks, and most other drinks with added...
In this commentary, Len Burman offers a radical proposal: use the tax system to bring in tax revenues and spending programs to provide the social safety net.
In a point-counterpoint with Henry Aaron, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Eugene Steuerle discusses five pressing fiscal problems facing America, and suggests tax and budget reform options to address these issues. This discourse includes agreement and disagreement, yet is honestly
Last week I had the opportunity to testify before two Ways and Means subcommittees--Select Revenue Measures and Oversight--about the way our tax system is used...
This paper examines how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will affect the US energy sector. It combines qualitative analysis of a range of TCJA provisions with estimates from the Tax Policy Center’s Investment and Capital Model of how a narrower set of provisions will change marginal effective tax
We examine the budget outlook, given new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections that reflect the recently enacted tax bill and spending deals. The prospect of routine trillion-dollar deficits has dominated public response to CBO’s report, but the underlying problem is even more serious.
The “tax gap”—the difference between the amount of taxes owed and the amount of tax actually paid—includes substantial gray areas where the law is ambiguous and the IRS’s determination of taxes owed is debatable. Understanding the tax gap’s shades of gray can inform discussions of tax law and
The recent fiscal situation and the intermediate-term budget outlook may appear relatively benign, Urban Institute President Robert Reischauer told the Senate Budget Committee, but deficits and debt will gradually grow to unprecedented and unsustainable levels if current tax and spending policies
Another day. Another bold and controversial tax reform plan. This is getting very interesting. Today, the privately-funded Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) released its own far-reaching...
This paper analyzes the House GOP tax reform blueprint, which would significantly reduce marginal tax rates, increase standard deduction amounts, repeal personal exemptions and most itemized deductions, allow businesses to expense new investment, and not allow businesses to deduct net interest
Distribution of federal tax change in 2013, by cash income percentile, from limiting the value of itemized deductions to 28 percent, compared with current law.
Distribution of federal tax change in 2013, by cash income percentile, from limiting the value of itemized deductions to 28 percent, compared with current policy.