Tax Policy Center

IRS

: TaxVox

Paying Taxes: Choice and Consequence

Will some private schools lose their tax-exempt status? If religious schools that ban same-sex relationships want to continue to do so, they might have to start paying taxes . If the US Supreme Court rules this month that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, the IRS could conclude that
June 25, 2015Renu Zaretsky
: TaxVox

Estimates and the Economy: Let the Buyer Beware

The CBO, the ACA, and the economy: Precision doesn’t mean accuracy. Last Friday, the Congressional Budget Office projected that repeal of the Affordable Care Act would add $137 billion to the national debt over 10 years but boost the economy. But the estimates came with a big warning: “[R]epealing
June 24, 2015Renu Zaretsky
: TaxVox

“We’re [still] on a road to nowhere.”

What might happen to federal highway funding? Clues next week? Both tax-writing committees will hold hearings on long-term funding for the Highway Trust Fund. The House Ways & Means Committee will hold its hearing on Wednesday . The Finance panel will meet on Thursday. The Fund currently relies
June 12, 2015Renu Zaretsky
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

The Scary New World of Tax Fraud

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
May 14, 2015Howard Gleckman
: TaxVox

Tax Relief for the Few, Tax Increases for All… or None

Everything is bigger in Texas, except tax relief for its low-income residents. Tax cuts are a sure bet in the Lone Star state this year, but it’s hard to provide tax relief to everybody without a state income tax. TPC’s Richard Auxier explains that Texas’ reliance on sales and property taxes makes
May 7, 2015Renu Zaretsky
: TaxVox

A Major Gift for TPC, Money Forsaken by Taxpayers, Or Given in Error

A transformative gift for TPC. The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center has established the Pozen Director’s Chair , thanks to a major gift from Robert C. Pozen. “I am glad to support… one of the few American organizations that consistently provides nonpartisan and thoughtful analysis of current tax
May 6, 2015Renu Zaretsky
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Why Do Taxpayers Leave Money on the Table?

My dad taught a teenage me an important lesson when he helped me file my first federal income tax return. I earned the minimum wage at a part-time job, and didn’t have to file. But he explained that I should file, knowing my effort would be rewarded. “You don’t earn enough to owe income taxes,” he
May 6, 2015Renu Zaretsky
: TaxVox

Not So Fast, No, No, and… No.

Alabama’s Senate Budget Committee taps the brakes on a state flat tax plan. The panel delayed a vote on a bill that would cut the state’s personal income tax rate to 2.75 percent from 5 percent, and lower the corporate income tax rate to 4.59 percent from 6.5 percent . The bill would also eliminate
May 1, 2015Renu Zaretsky
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

What Will Happen To Voluntary Tax Compliance If a Budget-constrained IRS Is Not Fixed?

Is the IRS such a mess that the nation’s system of voluntary tax compliance is at risk? Will frustrated taxpayers rebel because they can’t get help with a revenue code they can’t understand? Will aggressive taxpayers who recognize that audit rates have plummeted to the lowest levels in years
April 9, 2015Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

One Avenue to Bipartisan Tax Reform: Simplification and Improved Tax Administration

There are many ways to restructure the tax code. Elected officials often fail to detect opportunity when they adhere in a path-dependent way to one past model of success, such the 1986 tax reform. An alternative approach where even the acclaimed 1986 effort made at best modest progress would focus
April 8, 2015C. Eugene Steuerle