While the payroll tax rates for Hospital Insurance and OASDI have increased since 1966, the HI rate has risen faster. The HI rate is now almost one-quarter of the OASDI rate. Orszag concludes that removing the current $87,000 cap on taxable payroll under OASDI would raise a substantial share of...
The corporate income tax has been in steady decline since World War II, reaching record lows during the recessions of the early 1980s and approaching those lows again in 2002.
The Enron debacle had potential implications in three areas of tax policy: tax-favored retirement plans, stock options, and differences in book versus tax accounting. The most important issue relates to the increasing riskiness of retirement plans that (1) can pay in a lump sum amount, (2) are...
On January 7, 2003, President Bush proposed a new package of tax cuts, consisting primarily of a new tax cut for dividends and capital gains on corporate stock and an acceleration of most but not all of the provisions of the 2001 tax cut that were scheduled to take effect in future years.1 In...
President Bush's recently proposed to eliminate the double taxation of corporate income. The proposal contains the germ of a good idea, but it is incomplete. Indeed, implementing it as is would be undesirable for several reasons: it would add to our burgeoning national debt and thus reduce...
A perpetual policy debate surrounds the proper taxation of capital gains. One concern is that the tax creates a "lock-in effect." That is, people will hold onto assets longer than they otherwise would in order to avoid the tax. If significant, the lock-in effect would represent an undesirable...
Despite a brief upturn in the early- to mid-1990s, the profits of nonfinancial corporations have dropped dramatically as a percentage of GDP in recent decades and are near an all-time low. Does this mean that owners of corporate capital are worse off? Not necessarily. The owners of corporations...
Critics of the elimination of the double taxation of corporate dividends point to budgetary and distributional concerns as reasons to oppose corporate-personal income tax integration. The criticisms do not, however, mean that integration represents bad tax policy.
When policy makers decide that they are going to grant a temporary write-off for new capital investments, they essentially conclude that its macroeconomic advantages exceed other alternatives. However, incentive effects apply more powerfully to established or old business than to new business...
Taxable Payroll and Payroll Tax Rates
While the payroll tax rates for Hospital Insurance and OASDI have increased since 1966, the HI rate has risen faster. The HI rate is now almost one-quarter of the OASDI rate. Orszag concludes that removing the current $87,000 cap on taxable payroll under OASDI would raise a substantial share of...
The Corporate Income Tax In the Post-War Era
The corporate income tax has been in steady decline since World War II, reaching record lows during the recessions of the early 1980s and approaching those lows again in 2002.
The Enron Debacle
The Enron debacle had potential implications in three areas of tax policy: tax-favored retirement plans, stock options, and differences in book versus tax accounting. The most important issue relates to the increasing riskiness of retirement plans that (1) can pay in a lump sum amount, (2) are...
The President's Tax Proposal: Second Thoughts
On January 7, 2003, President Bush proposed a new package of tax cuts, consisting primarily of a new tax cut for dividends and capital gains on corporate stock and an acceleration of most but not all of the provisions of the 2001 tax cut that were scheduled to take effect in future years.1 In...
Taxing Capital Income Once
President Bush's recently proposed to eliminate the double taxation of corporate income. The proposal contains the germ of a good idea, but it is incomplete. Indeed, implementing it as is would be undesirable for several reasons: it would add to our burgeoning national debt and thus reduce...
Individual and Corporate Capital Gains Are Highly Correlated
A perpetual policy debate surrounds the proper taxation of capital gains. One concern is that the tax creates a "lock-in effect." That is, people will hold onto assets longer than they otherwise would in order to avoid the tax. If significant, the lock-in effect would represent an undesirable...
The Remarkable Constancy in the Income Share of Corporate Capital
Despite a brief upturn in the early- to mid-1990s, the profits of nonfinancial corporations have dropped dramatically as a percentage of GDP in recent decades and are near an all-time low. Does this mean that owners of corporate capital are worse off? Not necessarily. The owners of corporations...
Corporate Integration: Think Twice About the Possibilities
Critics of the elimination of the double taxation of corporate dividends point to budgetary and distributional concerns as reasons to oppose corporate-personal income tax integration. The criticisms do not, however, mean that integration represents bad tax policy.
Can Policymakers Time the Ending of Macroeconomic Incentives?
When policy makers decide that they are going to grant a temporary write-off for new capital investments, they essentially conclude that its macroeconomic advantages exceed other alternatives. However, incentive effects apply more powerfully to established or old business than to new business...
Can Policymakers Time the Ending of Macroeconomic Incentives?
This brief considers focuses on the ending of temporary investment incentives.