Anyone familiar with tax and expenditure legislation knows full well that interest groups constantly win special favors from federal and state legislators. For a long time I have struggled with how to make better use of the principle of equal justice to restrain or eliminate bad policy. Here are...
The largest individual AMT preference items in 2002 were state and local taxes (51 percent of all AMT preference items), personal exemptions (22 percent), and miscellaneous itemized deductions, including employee expenses and legal fees (20 percent).
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) and later the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) decreased marginal tax rates for four person families with earnings at half the median income and twice the median income. Neither piece of legislation changed the...
Individual giving to public charities-most of which comes in the form of charitable deductions from tax filers who itemize on their returns-actually comprises only a small part of charities gross receipts each year: between 8 and 12 percent of gross receipts over the 1996-2003 period.
This report describes the Roth 401(k) and discusses its potential effects. We find that the Roth 401(k) option will add complexity for employees and employers with little collateral social gain. The Roth 401(k) is unlikely to induce significant new private saving; almost all of the benefits are...
Rising house prices have led to increasing property taxes and to calls for property tax reform. However, it is important to realize that many state and local governments currently offer property tax relief programs. We examine the property tax relief programs offered through state income tax...
Claims that increasing capital gains tax rates will adversely impact stock markets and economic growth are not strongly supported by empirical data. Over the last half-century, the correlation between the maximum capital gains tax rate and the ratio of the S&P index to GDP has been about -0....
Following decades of relative stability, income inequality has risen sharply in the United States since the 1970s. Households at the top of the income distribution saw their pretax incomes grow most; similar trends and magnitude are present for after-tax incomes, too.
The panoply of U.S. tax and transfer programs often act in concert to penalize low-income families who increase their work effort or marry, by saddling them with high effective marginal tax rates. These effective marginal tax rates-often the product of multiple, hidden phase-outs in benefit...
Over the past seventy years Congress has enacted dozens of tax and transfer programs, giving little if any attention to the marriage subsidies and penalties that they inadvertently impose. Although the programs affect both rich and poor Americans, the penalties fall most heavily on low- or...
Reform and Equal Justice
Anyone familiar with tax and expenditure legislation knows full well that interest groups constantly win special favors from federal and state legislators. For a long time I have struggled with how to make better use of the principle of equal justice to restrain or eliminate bad policy. Here are...
AMT Preference Items, 2002
The largest individual AMT preference items in 2002 were state and local taxes (51 percent of all AMT preference items), personal exemptions (22 percent), and miscellaneous itemized deductions, including employee expenses and legal fees (20 percent).
Marginal Tax Rates, 1955-2005
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) and later the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) decreased marginal tax rates for four person families with earnings at half the median income and twice the median income. Neither piece of legislation changed the...
Individual Giving Compared To Charitable Gross Receipts
Individual giving to public charities-most of which comes in the form of charitable deductions from tax filers who itemize on their returns-actually comprises only a small part of charities gross receipts each year: between 8 and 12 percent of gross receipts over the 1996-2003 period.
An Analysis of the Roth 401(k)
This report describes the Roth 401(k) and discusses its potential effects. We find that the Roth 401(k) option will add complexity for employees and employers with little collateral social gain. The Roth 401(k) is unlikely to induce significant new private saving; almost all of the benefits are...
Property Tax Credits Offered Through State Income Tax Systems
Rising house prices have led to increasing property taxes and to calls for property tax reform. However, it is important to realize that many state and local governments currently offer property tax relief programs. We examine the property tax relief programs offered through state income tax...
Capital Gains Tax Rates, Stock Markets, and Growth
Claims that increasing capital gains tax rates will adversely impact stock markets and economic growth are not strongly supported by empirical data. Over the last half-century, the correlation between the maximum capital gains tax rate and the ratio of the S&P index to GDP has been about -0....
Income Taxes and Income Inequality Since 1979
Following decades of relative stability, income inequality has risen sharply in the United States since the 1970s. Households at the top of the income distribution saw their pretax incomes grow most; similar trends and magnitude are present for after-tax incomes, too.
The True Tax Rates Confronting Families With Children
The panoply of U.S. tax and transfer programs often act in concert to penalize low-income families who increase their work effort or marry, by saddling them with high effective marginal tax rates. These effective marginal tax rates-often the product of multiple, hidden phase-outs in benefit...
The Hefty Penalty on Marriage Facing Many Households with Children
Over the past seventy years Congress has enacted dozens of tax and transfer programs, giving little if any attention to the marriage subsidies and penalties that they inadvertently impose. Although the programs affect both rich and poor Americans, the penalties fall most heavily on low- or...