Expert

Howard Gleckman

Senior Fellow

I live a double life at Urban, but both my roles focus on finding answers to tough policy questions. Building on three decades as a journalist, my work at the Tax Policy Center aims to explain often-arcane tax and fiscal policy to a broad audience. My long-term care work focuses on building practical solutions to the nation’s financing and delivery challenges.

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Primary tasks

Kiplinger

Estate Taxes Could Hit the Not-So-Wealthy

Sandra Block

November 26, 2019

The Hill

A reality check on Warren's and Sanders's spending proposals

Veronique de Rugy

November 24, 2019

FactCheck.org

FactChecking the November Democratic Debate

November 21, 2019

Forbes

Want To Tax The Rich? Don’t Mark-To-Market Capital Gains, Tax Unrealized Gains At Death Instead

Howard Gleckman

November 21, 2019

PolitiFact

Kamala Harris' claim about typical dad paying higher taxes than 400 richest families is Mostly False

Shirin Ghaffary

November 20, 2019

The Ticker Tape - TD Ameritrade

What Are Tariffs and Who Really Pays For Them?

Bruce Blythe

November 19, 2019

Politifact

PolitiFact’s guide to understanding tariffs and international trade

Louis Jacobson

November 18, 2019

New York Times

Examining Conflicting Claims About ‘Medicare for All’

Linda Qiu

November 9, 2019

Business Insider

Bernie Sanders ramps up criticism of Elizabeth Warren's Medicare for All plan, calling it 'quite a hit' for average workers

Joseph Zeballos-Roig

November 8, 2019

CNN

Fact-checking Warren's claim that her health-care plan won't raise taxes on the middle class

Holmes Lybrand

November 7, 2019

Forbes

Warren's Plan to Double Tax Wealth is Unrealistic

Howard Gleckman

November 7, 2019

CNN

How Warren's Medicare for All plan could impact the middle class financially

Tami Luhby

November 7, 2019

Forbes

Even If You Have Medicare, You'll Still Pay Thousands Out-of-Pocket for Health Care

Howard Gleckman

November 6, 2019

Slate

Elizabeth Warren’s “Medicare for All” Plan Is Kind of Unfair

Jordan Weissman

November 5, 2019

The Washington Post

Warren’s plan to pay for Medicare-for-all: Does it add up?

Glenn Kessler

November 5, 2019

ThinkAdvisor

Opportunity Zone Funds: Who Really Benefits?

Bernice Napach

November 4, 2019

From TaxVox

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
Democrats In Love With Big Tax Hikes Might Do Well To Remember Walter Mondale
December 9, 2019 –
When I heard that Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden was proposing to raise taxes by $3.2 trillion over 10 years, I flashed back to Walter...
Business Taxes
Will Trump's Response To France's Digital Tax Undercut The TCJA?
December 5, 2019 –
Not for the first time, President Trump has me confused about his tax policy. The signature legislation of his presidency was the 2017 Tax Cuts...
Individual Taxes
Don't Try To Mark To Market Capital Gains. Tax Unrealized Gains At Death Instead
November 21, 2019 –
Market-to-market taxation of capital gains is not practical. Taxing unrealized gains at death is.
Individual Taxes
Taxing The Scholarships Of College Athletes Is A Personal Foul
November 13, 2019 –
Late last month, the NCAA said college athletes could get paid for the commercial use of their likenesses or names, though it appeared to limit...
Warren’s Plan To Tax Assets And Returns To Those Assets Is Unrealistic
November 7, 2019 –
Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has proposed a number of new taxes on high-income households. Add them up and many of the very wealthiest could pay marginal effective tax rates of more than 100 percent.
Understanding Warren’s Medicare For All Employer Tax
November 1, 2019 –
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has, as promised, released a plan to pay for her Medicare for All health insurance plan. She has come up...
Individual Taxes
A Wealth Tax Will Encourage More Spending By The Rich—And Maybe More Political Donations
October 31, 2019 –
Whatever else they do, the wealth taxes proposed by senators and Democratic presidential hopefuls Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will encourage the very...
Individual Taxes
Where Can Warren Get $32 Trillion To Pay For Her Government Health Plan?
October 25, 2019 –
Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren says she’ll disclose her plan to pay for universal, public health care within the “next few weeks.” But finding the money won't be easy.
Individual Taxes
The Story Of Medicare For All And Taxes Is Complex, But Warren And Sanders Have To Tell It
October 17, 2019 –
In a new report, my Urban Institute colleagues have estimated that a full-blown Medicare for All plan would increase federal government healthcare spending by a...
Individual Taxes
Are US Billionaires Really Paying A Lower Tax Rate Than Working People? Probably Not.
October 11, 2019 –
Economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman of the University of California at Berkeley have a new book that has generated an enormous amount of attention...
Business Taxes
Using Taxes To Cap Executive Compensation Doesn’t Work
October 3, 2019 –
This week, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders proposed raising the tax rates for large corporations where there are “exorbitant” pay gaps between top executives and...
Individual Taxes
Can A Wealth Tax Raise The Revenue Its Sponsors Hope?
September 24, 2019 –
The wealth tax is having a moment. At least two current Democratic presidential hopefuls have proposed some form of the tax.
Individual Taxes
Will California’s New Labor Law Change The Way Gig Workers Are Taxed?
September 20, 2019 –
A sprawling and controversial new labor law signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom this week could have major tax consequences for gig workers in the...
Individual Taxes
How Should We Tax The Rich
September 10, 2019 –
Assume, for the sake of argument, you believe the wealthiest Americans are undertaxed. And you are desperately seeking new revenue. What would you do?
Individual Taxes
Opportunity Zones May Someday Help Poor Communities. They Already Are A Tax Shelter For High-Income Investors
September 5, 2019 –
New York Times reporters Jesse Drucker and Eric Lipton wrote a well-reported piece the other day on that Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s Opportunity Zone...
Federal Budget and Economy
No, The US Is Not Overtaxed
August 20, 2019 –
No, The US Is Not Overtaxed. Despite what you may have heard, Americans are taxed less than residents of almost any other major developed country...
Business Taxes
Why Carbon Taxes Are So Hard To Pass
August 15, 2019 –
Why Carbon Taxes Are So Hard To Pass Economists love carbon taxes . According to polls, so do roughly two-thirds of Americans. Yet voters in...
Individual Taxes
Nina Olson's Legacy At The IRS
August 8, 2019 –
Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, retired last week after 18 years on the job. While few taxpayers knew who she was, she was a tireless advocate for low-income tax filers.
Individual Taxes
Remember The 47 Percent Who Pay No Income Taxes? They Are Not Who You Think.
August 6, 2019 –
Few of the 47 percent of who pay no federal income tax are off the rolls for very long.
Federal Budget and Economy
The US Economy Reverts To A Pre-Tax Cut Growth Rate
August 1, 2019 –
The economic benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) seem to have petered out. The US economy grew robustly in late 2017, perhaps...
Business Taxes
The House Should Repair, Not Repeal, The ACA’s Cadillac Tax
July 16, 2019 –
The House is scheduled to vote Wednesday to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act’s Cadillac tax on generous employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI). The bill, which...
Individual Taxes
The New W-4 Tax Withholding Form Is Coming Soon. But Why Is The IRS Even Bothering?
July 11, 2019 –
One day soon, the IRS will release its near-final version of the 2020 Form W-4 that workers are supposed to use to calculate their federal...
Business Taxes
Can The Sanders Financial Transactions Tax Raise Trillions And Cut Speculation?
July 1, 2019 –
Can The Sanders Financial Transactions Tax Raise Trillions And Cut Speculation? Senator and Democratic Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has proposed an ambitious financial transactions...
Federal Budget and Economy
CBO Predicts Historic Levels of Debt By Mid-Century
June 25, 2019 –
CBO Predicts Historic Levels of Debt By Mid-Century If the US continues today’s patterns of taxes and spending, the national debt will almost triple as...
Individual Taxes
HSAs Provide A Sweet Tax Break, But Some May Increase Health Care Spending
June 21, 2019 –
As a tax shelter, health savings accounts are a winner, and are growing in popularity. But, according to a new study (subscription only) by Paul...

Experts

Howard Gleckman

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From TaxVox