This paper describes the updated methodology that the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC) uses to estimate the benefits taxpayers receive from proposals that allow them to save through a qualified retirement savings plan. We present tables comparing how we currently measure these benefits...
The earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit (CTC) provide substantial benefits to working families with children. The EITC also provides modest benefits to workers without custodial children, often called “childless workers” for tax purposes. Together, the credits lift almost 9...
The earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit (CTC) provide substantial benefits to working families with children. The EITC also provides modest benefits to workers without custodial children, often called “childless workers” for tax purposes. Together, the credits lift almost 9...
This report describes the Tax Policy Center (TPC) Microsimulation Model’s revamped home mortgage interest deduction (MID) module. The TPC tax model uses the module for simulating proposals that reform the MID. The new MID module improves upon the prior one in accounting for potential changes in...
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided most US households with one-time economic impact payments to mitigate the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Internal Revenue Service was responsible for distributing the payments, which were rapidly...
This chartbook explores the implications of the tax-advantaged treatment of pass-through income enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). Section 199A of the TCJA allows a deduction from taxable income of 20 percent of certain pass-through income. We look specifically at the...
The Statistics of Income division of the Internal Revenue Service releases an annual public-use file of individual income tax returns that is invaluable to tax analysts in government agencies, nonprofit research organizations, and the private sector. However, the Statistics of Income division...
This report describes the Tax Policy Center (TPC) Microsimulation Model’s revamped health module. The TPC tax model uses the health module for simulating tax expenditures for health care, analyzing changes in the tax treatment of employer-provided health benefits, and evaluating health-related...
Federal tax law provides several tax benefits for homeowners. This chartbook focuses on the home mortgage interest deduction. We provide updated estimates of the distributional effects of the home mortgage interest deduction, show how those estimates could change if people pay down their home...
From 2010 through 2019, funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) dropped by 24 percent, after adjustment for inflation. As a consequence, the percentage of taxpayers who were audited fell by nearly half. In this paper, we use confidential IRS data to compare the returns on investments (ROI...
Accounting for The Benefit of Retirement Saving Incentives in Distribution Tables
This paper describes the updated methodology that the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC) uses to estimate the benefits taxpayers receive from proposals that allow them to save through a qualified retirement savings plan. We present tables comparing how we currently measure these benefits...
Boosting Wages or Helping Children? Understanding How New Earnings and Child Tax Credit Proposals Impact Income Inequality and Vulnerable Children
The earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit (CTC) provide substantial benefits to working families with children. The EITC also provides modest benefits to workers without custodial children, often called “childless workers” for tax purposes. Together, the credits lift almost 9...
Comparing the EITC and Child Tax Credit Proposals
The earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit (CTC) provide substantial benefits to working families with children. The EITC also provides modest benefits to workers without custodial children, often called “childless workers” for tax purposes. Together, the credits lift almost 9...
Expanding Modeling Capacity on Tax Expenditures for Homeownership
This report describes the Tax Policy Center (TPC) Microsimulation Model’s revamped home mortgage interest deduction (MID) module. The TPC tax model uses the module for simulating proposals that reform the MID. The new MID module improves upon the prior one in accounting for potential changes in...
Who Did Not Get the Economic Impact Payments by Mid-to-Late May, and Why?
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided most US households with one-time economic impact payments to mitigate the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Internal Revenue Service was responsible for distributing the payments, which were rapidly...
Tax Incentives for Pass-Through Income
This chartbook explores the implications of the tax-advantaged treatment of pass-through income enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). Section 199A of the TCJA allows a deduction from taxable income of 20 percent of certain pass-through income. We look specifically at the...
A Synthetic Supplemental Public-Use File of Low-Income Information Return Data: Methodology, Utility, and Privacy Implications
The Statistics of Income division of the Internal Revenue Service releases an annual public-use file of individual income tax returns that is invaluable to tax analysts in government agencies, nonprofit research organizations, and the private sector. However, the Statistics of Income division...
Description of the Tax Policy Center Microsimulation Model's Revamped Health Module
This report describes the Tax Policy Center (TPC) Microsimulation Model’s revamped health module. The TPC tax model uses the health module for simulating tax expenditures for health care, analyzing changes in the tax treatment of employer-provided health benefits, and evaluating health-related...
Effects of Tax Incentives on Homeownership
Federal tax law provides several tax benefits for homeowners. This chartbook focuses on the home mortgage interest deduction. We provide updated estimates of the distributional effects of the home mortgage interest deduction, show how those estimates could change if people pay down their home...
Effects of Recent Reductions in the Internal Revenue Service’s Appropriations on Returns on Investment
From 2010 through 2019, funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) dropped by 24 percent, after adjustment for inflation. As a consequence, the percentage of taxpayers who were audited fell by nearly half. In this paper, we use confidential IRS data to compare the returns on investments (ROI...