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Research report

Are Tax Expenditures Worth the Money?

Frank Sammartino, Eric Toder
January 22, 2020
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Abstract

In this report, we evaluate major federal tax expenditures. We distinguish between tax expenditures that are effectively spending programs and those that are departures from a comprehensive income tax but are not essentially spending substitutes. Most major tax expenditures have some policy justification but could be redesigned to better promote policy goals for the same or lower cost. Many smaller tax expenditures that provide special benefits to selected industries or individuals, however, are more difficult to justify on policy grounds. We list these at the end of the report.

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Individual Taxes Business Taxes
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Meet the Experts

  • Frank Sammartino
    Senior Fellow
  • Eric Toder
    Institute Fellow and Codirector, Tax Policy Center
Brief

Understanding the Maze of Recent Child and Work Incentive Proposals

Elaine Maag, Nikhita Airi
June 1, 2020
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  • © Urban Institute, Brookings Institution, and individual authors, 2020.