Increased demand for better use of evidence in policymaking has sparked bipartisan support for better evaluation of federal spending programs. Tax expenditures, spending-like subsidies embedded in the tax code, cost taxpayers roughly as much as domestic discretionary programs, yet receive little...
Supreme Court rulings in 2013 and 2015 established and expanded rights to same-sex marriage in the U.S. One of the most visible and impactful ways the federal government recognized these new rights was by allowing—indeed, requiring—legally-married same-sex couples to file federal tax returns as...
In 1967, the Supreme Court ruled in National Bellas Hess v. Department of Revenue of Illinois, that a business must have a physical presence within a state’s borders for the state to collect sales taxes from that business. In 1992, the court reaffirmed the physical presence requirement in Quill...
When a recession hits, the federal government usually responds with tax cuts and additional financial assistance, because automatic policies built into the law often prove inadequate and elected officials need and want to respond to the crisis. This brief compares the distributional and stimulus...
This paper examines the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, the largest tax overhaul since 1986. The new tax law makes substantial changes to the rates and bases of both the individual and corporate income taxes, cutting the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent, redesigning international...
After one year of the Trump administration, we assess the fiscal path implied by budget policies that the president and Congress have so far put in place. Using a new framework that holds lawmakers accountable for reforms taken and not taken, we project that over the coming decade, nearly all...
These tables show the expected present value at age 65 of benefits received in retirement and taxes paid over a career for households with different wage and marriage histories. The underlying data come from the Social Security Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS...
On February 15, 2018, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) requested specific information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on its oversight activities of nonprofit hospitals. In this brief, to provide evidence well beyond what the IRS considers, I present a new tool...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 leaves many promises of tax reform unfulfilled. In this paper, we examine the plan’s prospects to boost future growth, and discuss fundamental reforms that would boost the stock of capital and generate sustained, long-term growth. After making the case that the...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included a new federal incentive—Opportunity Zones—to spur investment in poor and undercapitalized communities. Governors (and the mayor of the District of Columbia) have now selected which among the roughly 56 percent of eligible census tracts in the US should be...
Evaluating Tax Expenditures
Increased demand for better use of evidence in policymaking has sparked bipartisan support for better evaluation of federal spending programs. Tax expenditures, spending-like subsidies embedded in the tax code, cost taxpayers roughly as much as domestic discretionary programs, yet receive little...
Policy Brief: Same-Sex Married Tax Filers after Windsor and Obergefell
Supreme Court rulings in 2013 and 2015 established and expanded rights to same-sex marriage in the U.S. One of the most visible and impactful ways the federal government recognized these new rights was by allowing—indeed, requiring—legally-married same-sex couples to file federal tax returns as...
The Evolution of Online Sales Taxes and What's Next For States
In 1967, the Supreme Court ruled in National Bellas Hess v. Department of Revenue of Illinois, that a business must have a physical presence within a state’s borders for the state to collect sales taxes from that business. In 1992, the court reaffirmed the physical presence requirement in Quill...
Helping Workers during Recessions
When a recession hits, the federal government usually responds with tax cuts and additional financial assistance, because automatic policies built into the law often prove inadequate and elected officials need and want to respond to the crisis. This brief compares the distributional and stimulus...
Effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: A Preliminary Analysis
This paper examines the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, the largest tax overhaul since 1986. The new tax law makes substantial changes to the rates and bases of both the individual and corporate income taxes, cutting the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent, redesigning international...
Where Is the Budget Headed One Year into the Trump Administration?
After one year of the Trump administration, we assess the fiscal path implied by budget policies that the president and Congress have so far put in place. Using a new framework that holds lawmakers accountable for reforms taken and not taken, we project that over the coming decade, nearly all...
Social Security and Medicare Lifetime Benefits and Taxes: 2017 Update
These tables show the expected present value at age 65 of benefits received in retirement and taxes paid over a career for households with different wage and marriage histories. The underlying data come from the Social Security Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS...
Measuring the “Charitability” of Hospitals: Putting Meat on the Bones of the Grassley-Hatch Request
On February 15, 2018, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) requested specific information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on its oversight activities of nonprofit hospitals. In this brief, to provide evidence well beyond what the IRS considers, I present a new tool...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: A Missed Opportunity to Establish a Sustainable Tax Code
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 leaves many promises of tax reform unfulfilled. In this paper, we examine the plan’s prospects to boost future growth, and discuss fundamental reforms that would boost the stock of capital and generate sustained, long-term growth. After making the case that the...
Did States Maximize Their Opportunity Zone Selections?
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included a new federal incentive—Opportunity Zones—to spur investment in poor and undercapitalized communities. Governors (and the mayor of the District of Columbia) have now selected which among the roughly 56 percent of eligible census tracts in the US should be...