Expert

Leonard E. Burman

Institute Fellow

Primary tasks

Research report

A Universal EITC: Making Work Pay in the Age of Automation

The universal earned income tax credit is a worker subsidy designed to offset wage stagnation. The base proposal would replace existing subsidies for working families with a refundable 100 percent tax credit on individual wages up to $10,000 and a larger, refundable child tax credit. The maximum...

January 21, 2021

Leonard E. Burman

Research report

Federal Budget and Economy

A Synthetic Supplemental Public-Use File of Low-Income Information Return Data: Methodology, Utility, and Privacy Implications

The Statistics of Income division of the Internal Revenue Service releases an annual public-use file of individual income tax returns that is invaluable to tax analysts in government agencies, nonprofit research organizations, and the private sector. However, the Statistics of Income division...

July 9, 2020

Claire Bowen Victoria L. Bryant Leonard E. Burman Surachai Khitatrakun Graham MacDonald Robert McClelland Philip Stallworth Kyle Ueyama Aaron R. Williams Noah Zwiefel

Brief

Individual Taxes

Roth IRAs Versus Traditional IRAs: Implications for Individuals and Government

This policy brief summarizes the impact of traditional individual retirement accounts and Roth individual retirement accounts on personal choices and on government finances. Although the accounts are equivalent under certain circumstances, in practice they often differ in important ways for both...

September 5, 2019

Leonard E. Burman William G. Gale Aaron Krupkin

Research report

Business Taxes

How Shifting from Traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs Affects Personal and Government Finances

In this report, we examine the different ways that Roth individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and traditional IRAs affect their investors and the government. People who want to shelter more income per dollar deposited in the account, provide larger bequests, or eliminate uncertainty about how...

September 5, 2019

Leonard E. Burman William G. Gale Aaron Krupkin

Research report

Individual Taxes

A Universal EITC: Sharing the Gains from Economic Growth, Encouraging Work, and Supporting Families

This report analyzes a straightforward mechanism to mitigate middle-class wage stagnation: a wage tax credit of 100 percent of earnings up to a maximum credit of $10,000, called a universal earned income tax credit. The child tax credit would increase from $2,000 to $2,500 and be made fully...

May 20, 2019

Leonard E. Burman

Research report

Individual Taxes

Safely Expanding Research Access to Administrative Tax Data: Creating a Synthetic Public Use File and a Validation Server

Administrative tax data contain a wealth of information that is potentially valuable for research and analysis. However, the legal and ethical imperative to protect taxpayer privacy has restricted their access to a small number of government analysts and select researchers. We propose to develop...

October 25, 2018

Leonard E. Burman Alex Engler Surachai Khitatrakun James R. Nunns Sarah Armstrong John Iselin Graham MacDonald

Research report

Individual Taxes

The Effects of Estate and Inheritance Taxes on Entrepreneurship

Despite its relatively small role in the federal taxation system—accounting for less than 1 percent of revenues—the estate and gift tax is controversial. This paper surveys evidence on the effect of estate and inheritance taxes on entrepreneurship and presents some new evidence. We use the...

March 5, 2018

Leonard E. Burman Robert McClelland Chenxi Lu

Brief

Individual Taxes

Do Estate and Inheritance Taxes Affect Entrepreneurship?

Despite its relatively small role in the federal taxation system—accounting for less than 1 percent of revenues—the estate and gift tax is controversial. This brief surveys research on the effect of estate and inheritance taxes on entrepreneurship and presents new evidence. We find that...

March 5, 2018

Leonard E. Burman Robert McClelland Chenxi Lu

Journal Article

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Is U.S. Corporate Income Double-Taxed?

Using data from several sources, we show that the vast majority of corporate income is not double-taxed in the United States. We estimate that the taxable share of U.S. corporate equity has declined dramatically in recent years, from over 80 percent in 1965 to about 30 percent at present. We...

September 8, 2017

Leonard E. Burman Kimberly A. Clausing Lydia Austin

From TaxVox

Biden Would Close Giant Capital Gains Loopholes—At Least For The Rich
April 28, 2021 –
President Biden has proposed to tax capital gains earned by high-income households more like other income. This is a significant reform that would close loopholes...
President Biden’s No Tax Hike Pledge Problem
March 24, 2021 –
Nobody making under 400,000 bucks would have their taxes raised. Period. Bingo. – Joe Biden, May 22, 2020 Enacting good tax policy is hard under...
Individual Taxes
A Tax Credit to Fix Capitalism
January 21, 2021 –
Capitalism produces a dizzying array of products and, in the process, generates an enormous amount of wealth. But capitalism creates a problem in that the...
State and Local Issues
Congress Can Help State and Local Governments Prepare for a Rainy Day Without Repealing the SALT Cap
January 14, 2021 –
With Joe Biden in the White House and narrow control of the Congress, Democrats are likely to try to restore the full state and local...
Federal Budget and Economy
It’s Not News That Congress’s Budget Process Is A Wreck, But It Should Be
October 9, 2020 –
On September 30, President Trump held a fundraiser in St. Paul MN, an event that received a lot of attention because he participated even after...
TPC Builds A Moog—Or How Synthetic Data Could Transform Policy Research
July 13, 2020 –
In 1970, Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute got a Moog synthesizer —a giant, unwieldy computer that created music. The sound was weird and quite evidently electronic. My...
Business Taxes
Capital Gains Cuts Won’t Cure the Covid-19 Economy
May 11, 2020 –
Back in 1991, Saturday Night Live spoofed politicians who see capital gains tax cuts as a panacea. In one sketch, after being frozen for eons,...
Federal Budget and Economy
Is The Stimulus Rebate A Universal Basic Income?
March 25, 2020 –
Congress is about to pass a massive economic stimulus package that will, among other things, send cash to most American households. The so-called rebates amount...
Federal Budget and Economy
The Economics of Social Distancing, Or Why The Coronavirus Made Me Postpone My Pi Day Party
March 13, 2020 –
Pi Day is one of my favorite holidays, where I have a chance to celebrate math, pies, and puns. All of which I love. This...
Warren’s Medicare For All “Employer Medicare Contribution” Is A Distortionary And Regressive Tax
November 5, 2019 –
On Friday, Elizabeth Warren released her financing plan for Medicare for All . It is predictably wonky and politically courageous—new spending is way more popular...
Federal Budget and Economy
How To Remake The TCJA Into Pro-Growth, Progressive Tax Reform
October 7, 2019 –
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) cut federal tax revenues by nearly $2 trillion over its first decade, with almost all the benefit going...
Individual Taxes
Most AMT Taxpayers Paid Lower Taxes After TCJA, Despite SALT Cap
July 10, 2019 –
A new Tax Policy Center analysis finds that the vast majority of households that paid the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) before the 2017 Tax Cuts...
New Tax Credit Could End Poverty For US Workers And Boost the Middle Class
May 21, 2019 –
In a new paper , I propose a universal earned income tax credit (UEITC)—a one-for-one match on the first $10,000 of earnings delivered through a...
The Blessed Alice
May 15, 2019 –
Alice Rivlin made the world a better place in so many ways. She will forgive me for ignoring most of them in this brief essay...
A Comprehensive and Accessible Analysis of Trade, Immigration, and International Taxation
February 27, 2019 –
In Open: The Progressive Case for Free Trade, Immigration, and Global Capital , Kimberly Clausing has written a comprehensive and accessible analysis of three of...
OMB Review Of Tax Regulations: A ‘Dispassionate Second Opinion’ Or Needless Sand In The Gears?
September 17, 2018 –
The Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently agreed that OMB would review many tax regulations before they are released, a...
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
Amazon Isn’t A Bad Employer, But Stop-BEZOS Is A Bad Bill
September 7, 2018 –
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) just introduced the ‘‘ Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act ’’ (or Stop-BEZOS) that would punish...
Remembering John McCain’s Tax Agenda
August 27, 2018 –
During primary season in 2000, I came upon my boss—a longtime Democratic insider—reading John McCain's tax plan. “It’s really good,” he said, and a lot...
Indexing Capital Gains Could Both Reduce Lock-In and Harm the Economy
August 3, 2018 –
In response to my post attempting to shoot down the Trump Administration’s trial balloon re capital gains indexation, a financial advisor wondered if I might...
Indexing Capital Gains via Regulations is Still a Bad Idea
July 31, 2018 –
The Trump Administration reportedly is thinking about using its executive authority to redefine capital gains so only returns from the sale of assets in excess...
Business Taxes
Should Treasury Index Capital Gains?
May 10, 2018 –
National Economic Council chair Larry Kudlow reportedly wants the IRS to redefine capital gains to include only returns from the sale of assets in excess of inflation. Were it feasible, it would make sense to measure all income and expense in real terms. But indexing capital gains alone by executive fiat would make no sense. It would cut capital gains taxes by up to $20 billion a year for the richest Americans and open the door to a raft of new, inefficient tax shelters. And it would do all this without the approval of Congress.
Individual Taxes
How Do Estate And Inheritance Taxes Affect Entrepreneurs?
March 6, 2018 –
A new paper and brief explore how estate and inheritance taxes (or wealth transfer taxes) affect entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs. It is a contentious issue...
State and Local Issues
State Responses to the TCJA’s SALT Deduction Limit May Be Costly and Favor High-Income Residents
January 30, 2018 –
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) limits the itemized deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) on federal individual income tax returns to $10,000...
Congress missed an opportunity to reform the corporate tax
December 26, 2017 –
The centerpiece of the new tax law is a cut in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Proponents promise the lower rate will bring jobs and investment to the United States and boost economic growth significantly.
The Senate Would Keep The Individual AMT, But Turn It Into A Very Different Tax
December 6, 2017 –
The individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) looks like it may survive yet another tax overhaul. But the latest incarnation of the tax may look very...

Experts

Leonard E. Burman

Social Media

Primary tasks

From TaxVox