Expert

Leonard E. Burman

Institute Fellow

Primary tasks

Brief

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

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

Working paper

Individual Taxes

A Synthetic Income Tax Return Data File: Tentative Work Plan and Discussion Draft

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 access to a small number of government analysts and select researchers. We propose to develop in...

June 30, 2017

Leonard E. Burman Alex Engler Surachai Khitatrakun James R. Nunns Sarah Armstrong

Research report

Federal Budget and Economy

An Analysis of the House GOP Tax Plan

This research report was originally published by the Columbia Journal of Tax Law. The publication is updated version of, "An Analysis of the...

April 5, 2017

Leonard E. Burman James R. Nunns Benjamin R. Page Jeffrey Rohaly Joseph Rosenberg

From TaxVox

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...
What Would Reagan Do?
November 28, 2017 –
Congress is rushing to rewrite the tax code before Christmas. True tax reform would be a wonderful present for America, but the current tax bills...
Individual Taxes
Beer Is Not A Metaphor For Tax Fairness
October 31, 2017 –
Yesterday my twitter feed exploded with cranky tweets about White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders’s press briefing, which started with an anecdote about bar tabs...
The Budget Gimmick that Undermines Public and Private Finances
October 30, 2017 –
The GOP tax reform proposal may limit contributions to traditional 401k plans, while continuing to allow contributions to Roth accounts. It is borrowing in disguise--intended to skirt the borrowing limits in the congressional budget resolution--and may also undermine workers' retirement security.
The Mortgage Interest Deduction Would Be Worth Much Less Under The Unified Framework
October 24, 2017 –
While the Unified Framework announced by the Trump Administration and Congressional leadership last month would not repeal the home mortgage interest deduction (MID), other provisions...
The State and Local Tax Deduction Doesn’t Benefit Only Blue State Households
September 11, 2017 –
The Trump Administration and key congressional Republicans have proposed repealing the itemized deduction for state and local taxes as one way to help pay for...
A Tax Credit to Give Middle-Class Workers a Raise
August 2, 2017 –
When the middle class was suffering from the ravages of the Great Depression, demagogues of the right and left blamed easy scapegoats and offered populist...
A 15-Percent Corporate Tax Rate Could Create an Enormous Tax Shelter
April 25, 2017 –
President Trump’s tax reform announcement tomorrow reportedly will include a 20 percentage point cut in the top corporate income tax rate— from 35 percent to...
Individual Taxes
ACA and the perils of reconciliation
March 13, 2017 –
I intended to write a completely different post about how repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would undermine Medicare’s finances. My story was half right:...
Business Taxes
What Markets Tell Us About The Prospects For a BAT
February 27, 2017 –
The House Republicans’ proposal for a border-adjustable tax (BAT)—a levy that would apply to imports but not exports—is causing a lot of consternation among retailers...

Experts

Leonard E. Burman

Social Media

Primary tasks

From TaxVox