Tax Policy Center

budget deficit

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

How would candidates’ spending plans affect our GDP projections?

The Tax Policy Center, with the help of the Penn-Wharton Budget Model (PWBM), found that in the short-run Hillary Clinton’s tax increases would slow the...
October 21, 2016Leonard E. Burman
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Imagining Trump And Clinton Fiscal Policy In An Era of Growing Government Debt

The Congressional Budget Office’s long term budget outlook is a curious document. On one hand, a 30-year fiscal forecast will almost certainly be wrong. But...
July 12, 2016Howard Gleckman
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Sanders’s Domestic Program Would Help Most Households, But Add More Than $18 Trillion to the Debt

Sanders’s Domestic Program Would Help Most Households, But Add More Than $18 Trillion to the Debt. Most American families would receive new government benefits that would exceed their higher taxes under the domestic policy agenda of Democratic Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. But even though
May 9, 2016Howard Gleckman
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Five Questions to Ask When You Look at a Presidential Candidate’s Tax Plan

I recently suggested that voters look seriously at the tax proposals being touted by presidential candidates, even though those plans have little chance of ever becoming law as proposed. But what should those voters look for as they sort through these complex ideas? Here are five questions you
December 29, 2015Harvey Galper
: TaxVox

A Little March Madness on the Hill

The “doc fix” passes the House. The House overwhelmingly approved the Medicare “ doc fix ” to replace automatic payment cuts (that Congress has delayed every year since 2003) with a temporary 0.5 percent annual hike in physician reimbursements. But the bipartisan deal, which CBO figures would add $
March 27, 2015Renu Zaretsky
: TaxVox

Simplification, Shortfalls and Shifted Assets

Today on the Hill. The Senate Finance Committee examines tax complexity , compliance, and administration with an eye toward simplification in tax reform. Witnesses include Carol Markman of EP Caine & Associates, Mihir Desai of Harvard University, Bruce Bartlett, former deputy assistant
March 10, 2015Renu Zaretsky
: TaxVox

Is It a Business Man’s World?

Corporate tax reform: It wouldn’t affect all businesses. A cut in the corporate tax rate won’t benefit millions of unincorporated businesses, and those firms don’t think that’s fair. These include pass-throughs such as partnerships or S corporations that can range from small businesses like
January 14, 2015Renu Zaretsky
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Why Does Congress Pay For Some Tax Cuts and Not Others?

Can somebody explain to me why the House agreed last week to restore 50+ tax subsidies without paying for them (and thus adding $42 billion to the deficit) and 10 minutes later approved a new tax subsidy that it insisted on paying for? It can’t be the merits of the recipients. By now, TaxVox
December 9, 2014Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Ryan and Lew Both Object to JCT Scoring of Future Tax Reform

Like a couple of baseball managers working the umpires before a big World Series game, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), who wants to be the next chair of the House Ways & Means Committee, are looking to change the way Congress scores tax reform even before
October 9, 2014Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

How Much Would An Individual Tax Rate Cut Add to the Deficit, and Who Would Benefit?

Reducing tax rates is a guiding principal of most tax reform plans. Even Democrats who see reform partly as a tool to boost revenues agree that some money generated by eliminating tax preferences ought to go to rate reduction. But how much does Treasury lose when Congress reduces individual tax
August 21, 2014Howard Gleckman