Research report

Tax and fiscal policy will loom large in the next president's domestic policy agenda. Nearly all of the tax cuts enacted since 2001 expire at the end of 2010 and the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) threatens to ensnare tens of millions of Americans. While a permanent fix palatable to...

September 12, 2008
Roberton C. WilliamsLeonard E. BurmanSurachai KhitatrakunJeffrey RohalyEric Toder
Research report

In this paper we review the current wealth transfer tax rules and the changes introduced in 2001. We offer an overview of the methodology underlying the TPC's estate tax model and then use the model to estimate the number of estate tax filers, taxable returns, and the distribution of burden...

October 20, 2008
Leonard E. BurmanKatherine LimJeffrey Rohaly
Research report

In response to the deterioration of the economy and the decline in asset values, Senators McCain and Obama have offered new proposals related to unemployment compensation, retirement savings, taxation of capital gains, and job creation. Although the proposals would provide some benefit, they...

October 27, 2008
Roberton C. Williams
Research report

During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama proposed a comprehensive tax plan that would raise taxes on high-income taxpayers, cut taxes for low- and middle-income households, and lose $2.9 trillion dollars of revenue over ten years. Obama will take office with the economy in sharp recession...

January 8, 2009
Roberton C. Williams
Research report

One of the most vexing and contentious issues in taxation is the proper treatment of capital gains-the increase in value of an asset such as shares of company stock or a business. In principle, under an income tax, capital gains should be included in the tax base as they accrue. In practice, if...

March 25, 2009
Leonard E. Burman
Research report

Some tax proposals would reduce the marginal corporate tax rate. Others would boost the top individual rate. Although a differential between corporate and individual rates could reduce the overall tax on distributed corporate income, it could also enable higher-income taxpayers to shelter income...

July 29, 2009
Dan Halperin
Research report

Overall, the federal tax system is progressive. On average, households with higher incomes pay taxes that are a larger share of their income. But barring legislative action, the numerous sunsets and phase-ins that Congress has written into the tax code will result in a tax system that is in a...

August 21, 2009
Rachel M. JohnsonJeffrey Rohaly
Research report

The Volcker task force on tax reform, part of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, faces a daunting task that is made materially more difficult by ex ante constraints placed on its purview and recommendations. Broad-based reform proposals seem to be out of the question, and...

September 9, 2009
William G. Gale
Research report

There are several justifications for the corporate tax, including the claim that the corporate tax enhances progressivity in the tax code. This claim is based on two assumptions. One, that corporate tax incidence is primarily borne by capital (as opposed to labor); and two, that capital is...

November 23, 2009
Benjamin H. Harris
Research report

One arguably good thing about the current financial crisis is that it has broadened public understanding of the global financial system. Few people had heard of credit default swaps two years ago, but these instruments have, since then, forced themselves on the attention the most casual reader...

December 9, 2009
Lawrence Lokken