1040 | Tax Policy Center

Are Taxes Complicated? Compared to What?

As the April 18 deadline for filing income tax rapidly approaches, many people will complain about how complicated the process is. But there is a...

April 15, 2022William G. Gale

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Hey Tax Filers: There’s (At Least) One Thing You Should Know…

How do ten TPC experts answer this simple question: “What is the single most important thing an average filer should know about tax policy, and why?”

April 6, 2022Renu Zaretsky

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

How Well Is the IRS Implementing A Retroactive Unemployment Benefit Tax Break?

By including in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) a provision to exempt up to $10,200 of last year’s unemployment benefits from federal income tax, Congress...

March 30, 2021Janet Holtzblatt

: TaxVox

Rethinking The Presidential Election Campaign Fund

When you filed your tax return last spring, did you check off the "Presidential Election Campaign" box on the Form 1040? Didn’t think so.

July 25, 2019Aravind Boddupalli Erin Huffer

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Janet And Her Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Filing Season (With Apologies To Judith Viorst)

I believe that every person in the tax policy game—from members of the tax-writing committees to research assistants at the Tax Policy Center—should compute their...

May 2, 2019Janet Holtzblatt

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

The New 1040 Will Fit On A (Big) Postcard, But It Won’t Make Tax Filing Any Simpler

When tax filing season begins in a few weeks, you’ll likely hear senior Trump Administration officials and some congressional Republicans boasting yet again about how...

January 15, 2019Howard Gleckman

: TaxVox

The TCJA Eliminated Personal Exemptions. Why Are States Still Using Them?

A key provision of 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was the elimination of the personal exemption. The change has a major effect on...

December 17, 2018Richard C. Auxier

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

The TCJA's Really, Really Big Postcard

The Trump Administration continues to tout the idea that, thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), Americans will be able to fill out...

January 29, 2018Howard Gleckman

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Why Trump should release his tax returns

Yesterday, former IRS Commissioner Fred Goldberg (who held top tax positions in the administrations of both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush)

August 24, 2016Steven M. Rosenthal

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

How DC gave you three extra days to file your taxes this year

Don't say the nation's capital never does anything for you. Thanks to a District of Columbia (DC) holiday, the IRS moved Tax Day back three days to April 18 this year. Since 1955, April 15 has served as Tax Day in the United States , but the IRS can delay the filing deadline when it coincides with

April 4, 2016Richard C. Auxier