Legislated changes affecting capital income have dramatically reduced the federal income tax base and revenues over the past 25 years. A significant share of capital income is never subject to tax. The massive “leakage” between the generation of economic income and the reporting of income on tax...
The 2021 temporary expansion of the child tax credit (CTC) was unprecedented in its reach, lifting 3.7 million children out of poverty as of December 2021. It provided families with up to $3,600 for every child in the household under the age of six, and up to $3,000 for every child between the...
Kim Rueben, Sol Price Fellow at the Urban Institute, and Richard Auxier, Senior Policy Associate at the Urban Institute, testified before the Council of the District of Columbia’s Committee on Business and Economic Development on March 14, 2022. The hearing included a discussion on the “Pension...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) dramatically changed tax law, including how taxpayers deduct the interest on their home mortgages. It narrowed the deduction in several ways, so we would expect new mortgages to be smaller than old ones. But it also raised most taxpayers’ after-tax...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) dramatically changed tax law. It narrowed the subsidy on mortgage interest in several ways, which should lower mortgages and home prices; it also increased most taxpayers’ after-tax incomes, which should have the opposite effect. Thus, the TCJA’s overall...
Institute Fellow C. Eugene Steuerle testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on options for improving the lives of charitable beneficiaries through reform of the charitable deduction. The testimony outlines ways to create a more effective charitable incentive and makes...
At the start of 2020, Governor Jared Polis organized a Tax Study Group and charged it with analyzing the efficiency and equity of Colorado’s tax system. Over the course of the year, the Tax Study Group held five learning sessions. Throughout this process, the Urban Institute’s State and Local...
The global pandemic caused an unprecedented economic disruption across the nation. But two years in, state and local tax revenues are growing by double digits, much faster than state and local economies. The large gap between growth in revenues versus economic activity is an indication that some...
Direct income supports (such as cash transfers) can stabilize households during crises and recoveries. They show special promise as an equitable means of assisting families of color with low incomes, who because of structural racism are disproportionately affected...
More than half of economic income generated by closely held businesses does not appear on tax returns and that ratio has declined significantly over the past 25 years. Tax data alone provide incomplete insights about business income taxation because the incomes reported to the IRS are already...
Taxing Capital Income
Legislated changes affecting capital income have dramatically reduced the federal income tax base and revenues over the past 25 years. A significant share of capital income is never subject to tax. The massive “leakage” between the generation of economic income and the reporting of income on tax...
The Impacts of the 2021 Expanded Child Tax Credit on Family Employment, Nutrition, And Financial Well-Being
The 2021 temporary expansion of the child tax credit (CTC) was unprecedented in its reach, lifting 3.7 million children out of poverty as of December 2021. It provided families with up to $3,600 for every child in the household under the age of six, and up to $3,000 for every child between the...
Understanding The 2014 DC Tax Revision Commission’s Recommendation to Eliminate Certain Individual Income Tax Expenditures
Kim Rueben, Sol Price Fellow at the Urban Institute, and Richard Auxier, Senior Policy Associate at the Urban Institute, testified before the Council of the District of Columbia’s Committee on Business and Economic Development on March 14, 2022. The hearing included a discussion on the “Pension...
How Did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Of 2017 Affect the Housing Market?
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) dramatically changed tax law, including how taxpayers deduct the interest on their home mortgages. It narrowed the deduction in several ways, so we would expect new mortgages to be smaller than old ones. But it also raised most taxpayers’ after-tax...
New Evidence on The Effect of The TCJA On the Housing Market
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) dramatically changed tax law. It narrowed the subsidy on mortgage interest in several ways, which should lower mortgages and home prices; it also increased most taxpayers’ after-tax incomes, which should have the opposite effect. Thus, the TCJA’s overall...
Options for Improving the Lives of Charitable Beneficiaries Through Reform of The Charitable Deduction
Institute Fellow C. Eugene Steuerle testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on options for improving the lives of charitable beneficiaries through reform of the charitable deduction. The testimony outlines ways to create a more effective charitable incentive and makes...
Colorado’s 2020 Tax Study Group: An Overview of Meetings and Research
At the start of 2020, Governor Jared Polis organized a Tax Study Group and charged it with analyzing the efficiency and equity of Colorado’s tax system. Over the course of the year, the Tax Study Group held five learning sessions. Throughout this process, the Urban Institute’s State and Local...
State Tax and Economic Review, 2021 Quarter 3
The global pandemic caused an unprecedented economic disruption across the nation. But two years in, state and local tax revenues are growing by double digits, much faster than state and local economies. The large gap between growth in revenues versus economic activity is an indication that some...
An Evaluation of THRIVE East of the River
Direct income supports (such as cash transfers) can stabilize households during crises and recoveries. They show special promise as an equitable means of assisting families of color with low incomes, who because of structural racism are disproportionately affected...
Taxing Business Incomes: Evidence from The Survey of Consumer Finances
More than half of economic income generated by closely held businesses does not appear on tax returns and that ratio has declined significantly over the past 25 years. Tax data alone provide incomplete insights about business income taxation because the incomes reported to the IRS are already...