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

Forbes

Sanders Proposes A $23 Trillion Tax Increase, Mostly On High-Income Households And Businesses

Howard Gleckman

March 19, 2020

Forbes

Government Payments Will Help Families But May Not Boost The Coronavirus Economy Much

Howard Gleckman

March 18, 2020

ABC News

Q&A: What does 90-day tax payment delay mean for filers?

Sarah Skidmore Sell, Martin Crutsinger

March 18, 2020

Law 360

IRS’ 90-Day Tax Payment Delay Could Sow Confusion

Joshua Rosenberg

March 18, 2020

Sacramento Bee

Trump wants to cut payroll taxes to cope with coronavirus fallout. Would that help the economy?

David Lightman

March 18, 2020

McClatchy

Trump wants to cut payroll taxes to cope with coronavirus fallout. Would that help the economy?

David Lightman

March 17, 2020

Fresno Bee

Trump wants to cut payroll taxes to cope with coronavirus fallout. Would that help the economy?

David Lightman

March 17, 2020

Forbes

Coronavirus Is Changing The Way We Care For Frail Older Adults

Howard Gleckman

March 16, 2020

Wall Street Journal

Biden Plans Show How Party’s Center Has Shifted Left

Jacob M. Schlesinger

March 16, 2020

Talking Points Memo

Why Trump’s Payroll Tax Cut Gambit Makes Little Sense For COVID-19

Tierney Sneed

March 13, 2020

Media Matters

Trump’s payroll tax push would gravely endanger Social Security and Medicare — and right-wing media are lying about it

Eric Kleefeld

March 13, 2020

CNBC

This is how Joe Biden will tax generational wealth transfer

Darla Mercado

March 13, 2020

Forbes

Targeted, Industry-Specific Tax Breaks Would Be A Terrible Response To Coronavirus

Howard Gleckman

March 11, 2020

Reuters

Trump's coronavirus payroll tax cut would punch hole in Social Security, Medicare budgets

Howard Schneider, Steve Holland

March 11, 2020

CNBC

What a payroll tax cut could mean for Social Security, Medicare and consumer spending

Lorie Konish

March 11, 2020

Marketplace

Would a payroll tax cut work in the COVID-19 economy?

Kristin Schwab

March 11, 2020

From TaxVox

State and Local Issues
Maryland’s Digital Advertising Levy Sets Off a New Battle Over Taxing E-Commerce
February 25, 2021 –
The most interesting tax news these days may be state efforts to tax digital advertising
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
TPC Finds the Ways & Means Pandemic Relief Plan Mostly Helps Low- and Moderate-Income Households, But Higher Income Families Benefit as Well
February 10, 2021 –
The major tax provisions of the pandemic relief bill proposed by House Ways & Means Committee Democrats on January 8 would reduce 2021 federal taxes...
Individual Taxes
Advancing Child Tax Credit Payments Makes Good Sense, But the IRS Will Need Funds to Pull It Off.
February 9, 2021 –
The plan to expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) proposed yesterday by House Ways & Means Committee Democrats included an important new feature—the IRS would...
Individual Taxes
How Biden Can Expand And Better Target the Child Tax Credit
February 2, 2021 –
In a recent blog , I looked at two ways Congress could refocus those $1,400 per person relief payments on those who need it most...
There Are Ways Congress Could Better Target A New Round of Pandemic Relief Payments
January 26, 2021 –
Congressional Republicans and some Democrats are urging lawmakers to better target President Biden’s $1.9 trillion plan for new pandemic relief. And they are right: It...
Federal Budget and Economy
The Delicate Deficit Dance That May Define Biden’s Presidency
January 20, 2021 –
It was fascinating to watch Treasury-secretary designate Janet Yellen and several Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee dance their delicate deficit dance at Yellen’s...
Biden's Huge Pandemic Relief Plan Would Cut Taxes for Low- and Moderate-Income Households
January 15, 2021 –
President-elect Joe Biden proposed a new $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan last night that would substantially cut taxes for low- and moderate-income households, especially those...
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
What Will a Narrow Democratic Congress Mean for Joe Biden’s Tax Agenda?
January 6, 2021 –
With improbable Democratic wins in both Georgia Senate runoff elections, President-elect Joe Biden has an opportunity to govern with a congressional majority—though one that will...
Federal Budget and Economy
Would Stimulus Payments Have Been Bigger If Trump And Democrats Called Them Tax Relief?
January 5, 2021 –
One of the very oddest things about the bizarre debate over whether to increase the latest round of direct government payments from $600 per person...
TaxVox’s Lump of Coal Award For The Worst Tax Policy Ideas of 2020
December 22, 2020 –
It goes without saying that 2020 was an awful year. Bad tax policy didn't make it much better.
Federal Budget and Economy
The Pandemic Relief Bill’s Good, Bad, and Ugly Tax Provisions
December 21, 2020 –
The pandemic relief bill Congress is about to pass is loaded with tax provisions. Some deliver important assistance to households and businesses damaged by...
Federal Budget and Economy
Congress Should Include More Unemployment Benefits And Another Stimulus Payment In A New Relief Bill
December 16, 2020 –
Should a new relief bill reprise last March’s $1,200 payments or create a new round of extended unemployment benefits?
Federal Budget and Economy
Should We Worry About The Long-Term Federal Debt In An Era of Low Interest Rates?
December 7, 2020 –
For decades, conventional wisdom said that high levels of federal debt created a significant drag on the economy by diverting money that could more productively...
Federal Budget and Economy
Will COVID-19 Relief Talks End Differently This Time?
December 3, 2020 –
By embracing a $908 billion bipartisan pandemic relief plan , congressional Democratic leaders may have jump-started long-dormant talks over short-term economic aid. A nudge by...
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
Treasury Pick Yellen Likes Carbon Taxes and More Pandemic Relief, But Not The TCJA
November 24, 2020 –
Janet Yellen, president-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Treasury Secretary, would come to the job with largely predictable views on tax policy for a mainstream, center-left economist.
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
Biden Proposed Raising Social Security Payroll Taxes By $740 Billion…And Still Got Elected President
November 17, 2020 –
An amazing thing happened in this year’s presidential election. A major party candidate proposed raising Social Security payroll taxes. And won.
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
Could a Divided Congress Approve Biden’s Ambitious Tax Agenda? Maybe More Than You Think
November 9, 2020 –
The conventional wisdom is that President-elect Joe Biden’s ambitious tax agenda will die in a GOP Senate, but some elements could pass.
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
Surprise: Biden and Trump Both Back A Modest Middle-Income Tax Cut
October 28, 2020 –
In one key respect, their plans appear surprisingly similar.
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
TPC Updates Its Analysis: Biden Would Raise Taxes by $2.1 Trillion, Nearly All On Business and High-Income Households
October 15, 2020 –
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s current campaign plan would raise taxes by $2.1 trillion over the next decade, about 0.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product.
Individual Taxes
Fewer Than 0.5 Percent of Very High-Income Households Paid as Little Tax As Donald Trump
October 2, 2020 –
Following The New York Times blockbuster series on President Trump’s personal finances—especially the revelation that he paid just $750 in federal income tax in 2016...
CBO Forecasts The National Debt Will Be Twice The Size Of The Economy. Watch Out For Higher Taxes
September 24, 2020 –
It is hard to overestimate what a dismal fiscal future the Congressional Budget Office foresees.
Individual Taxes
What Do People Think About Taxes? They Are Partisan, Dazed, And Confused
September 11, 2020 –
The newly published results of an extensive survey of public views on taxes find deep partisan divisions and a widespread lack of understanding about federal taxes.
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
Would Joe Biden Raise Taxes on Low- and Moderate-Income Families? It Depends on What You Mean by Taxes
September 1, 2020 –
Is Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden proposing to raise taxes on low- and middle-income households? He emphatically says no. President Trump and his allies say...
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
Donald Trump’s Bullet Point Tax Agenda
August 25, 2020 –
President Trump is formally kicking off his reelection campaign with a couple of pages of bullet points. It makes for a thin tax policy agenda.
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
Biden’s Tax Hikes May Be A Tough Sell In 2021. What If He Paired Them With Big Refundable Tax Credits?
August 19, 2020 –
The real question for Biden is how much of his ambitious tax plan could Congress realistically pass next year.

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Howard Gleckman

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From TaxVox