The use of tax incentives instead of direct spending to promote social and economic goals is growing. This paper considers whether it matters if fiscal interventions take the form of direct spending or tax breaks. Tax breaks can, and increasingly do, replace spending programs with the same...
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle discusses the need for marriage penalty relief in the tax code, concluding that a tax world in which single filing is available to all who share resources and even beds but not to those who happen to believe in marriage vows is too capricious and arbitrary to remain...
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle suggests that there are three major features of the U.S. multi-tiered tax structure that together reveal a fundamental distrust of "bigness:" (1) the graduated rate structure in the individual income tax; (2) the corporate income tax; and (3) the estate and gift tax...
In this essay Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle offers reasons to support a more unified structure for administering the EITC, child credit, and dependent exemption.
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle examines the implications of a Clinton Administration proposal to add a charitable tax deduction for non-itemizers, revealing how the proposal adds an unnecessary complications to the tax code.
In this column Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle examines in more detail the Clinton Administration's proposal to set a separate floor for the nonitemizer deduction, and tries to explain why certain choices were made either for political or technical reasons.
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle discuss how the extension of a charitable deduction to nonitemizers, if designed carefully, can increase giving moderately, while avoiding losses in revenues, increases in administrative burdens for taxpayers, and compliance problems for the IRS.
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle assesses President Clinton's 2001 budget proposal, and concludes that it primarily supports a sound short- and intermediate-run fiscal or macro policy, continues currently and into the future the abandonment of most functions for nonelderly, and remains on an...
In the first in a series of essay, Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle reviews tax justice by beginning with a strong endorsement of equity principles and their powerful influence on the development of policy.
Tax Cuts or Spending - Does it Make a Difference?
The use of tax incentives instead of direct spending to promote social and economic goals is growing. This paper considers whether it matters if fiscal interventions take the form of direct spending or tax breaks. Tax breaks can, and increasingly do, replace spending programs with the same...
How De Facto Optional Filing Demands Marriage Penalty Relief
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle discusses the need for marriage penalty relief in the tax code, concluding that a tax world in which single filing is available to all who share resources and even beds but not to those who happen to believe in marriage vows is too capricious and arbitrary to remain...
Taxing 'Bigness'
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle suggests that there are three major features of the U.S. multi-tiered tax structure that together reveal a fundamental distrust of "bigness:" (1) the graduated rate structure in the individual income tax; (2) the corporate income tax; and (3) the estate and gift tax...
Combining Child Credits, the EITC, and the Dependent Exemption (Part 2 of 2)
In this essay Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle offers reasons to support a more unified structure for administering the EITC, child credit, and dependent exemption.
Combining Child Credits, the EITC, and the Dependent Exemption (Part 1 of 2)
In this essay Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle describes various proposals to reform the EITC and other tax programs for low-income people.
Charity Deduction for Nonitemizers: Where Do You Draw the Line?
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle examines the implications of a Clinton Administration proposal to add a charitable tax deduction for non-itemizers, revealing how the proposal adds an unnecessary complications to the tax code.
Nonitemizers Charitable Deduction: The Administration's Floor Plan
In this column Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle examines in more detail the Clinton Administration's proposal to set a separate floor for the nonitemizer deduction, and tries to explain why certain choices were made either for political or technical reasons.
Right Way to Extend Charitable Deductions to Nonitemizers, The
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle discuss how the extension of a charitable deduction to nonitemizers, if designed carefully, can increase giving moderately, while avoiding losses in revenues, increases in administrative burdens for taxpayers, and compliance problems for the IRS.
A Budget for Baby Boomers
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle assesses President Clinton's 2001 budget proposal, and concludes that it primarily supports a sound short- and intermediate-run fiscal or macro policy, continues currently and into the future the abandonment of most functions for nonelderly, and remains on an...
And Equal (Tax) Justice for All? (Part 8 of 8)
In the first in a series of essay, Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle reviews tax justice by beginning with a strong endorsement of equity principles and their powerful influence on the development of policy.