This brief documents how the US tax system treats the most common forms of equity compensation, including stock, restricted stock units, and stock options. In most cases, these forms of equity compensation are taxed just like cash wages, salaries, and bonuses. Employees pay ordinary income taxes...
Entrepreneurs create successful enterprises that generate substantial value through the innovations they introduce. They typically must wait many years before their firms generate net operating profits. The tax system favors entrepreneurial activity by allowing deferral of tax on the accrual of...
Distributional analyses play a prominent role in policy discussions. Both tax and transfer policy have important distributional consequences, but traditionally they have been examined separately. This report describes a new methodology for integrated distributional analysis that imports results...
Donald Marron, Institute Fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, testified before the US Senate Committee on Finance as part of the hearing "Business Tax Reform." Marron presented seven main points about business tax reform based on the proposals that have been discussed by the Congress...
The Trump administration has announced the broad outlines of a tax reform plan that contains many provisions similar to those in the House GOP tax reform “blueprint” announced last year, but there are fundamental differences in the provisions affecting businesses and investors. While different,...
This brief summarizes, individually and jointly, an excise tax on carbon and an expansion of EITC benefits to childless workers. We find that although in principle a carbon tax that lowers wages could affect EITC benefits and thus impact low-to-moderate income households, the likely magnitude of...
This paper examines, individually and jointly, an excise tax on carbon and an expansion of EITC benefits to childless workers. We estimate how an illustrative tax of $32 per ton of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion would burden households differentially across the income distribution, how it could...
Mark Mazur, director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, testified before the US Senate Committee on Finance as part of the hearing "Comprehensive Tax Reform: Prospects and Challenges." Mazur presented the three principles of tax policy, reviewed lessons from previous reform efforts, and...
This year, Congress will consider what may be the biggest tax bill in decades. This is one of a series of briefs the Tax Policy Center has prepared to help people follow the debate. Each focuses on a key tax policy issue that Congress and the Trump administration may address. This brief...
Mark Mazur, Director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, testified before the US Senate Committee on Small Business during a hearing entitled “Tax Reform: Removing the Barriers to Small Business Growth.” In his testimony, Mazur presented a review of the principles of desirable tax policy,...
How Should Tax Reform Treat Employee Stock and Options?
This brief documents how the US tax system treats the most common forms of equity compensation, including stock, restricted stock units, and stock options. In most cases, these forms of equity compensation are taxed just like cash wages, salaries, and bonuses. Employees pay ordinary income taxes...
How Do We Tax the Income of Entrepreneurs?
Entrepreneurs create successful enterprises that generate substantial value through the innovations they introduce. They typically must wait many years before their firms generate net operating profits. The tax system favors entrepreneurial activity by allowing deferral of tax on the accrual of...
A Methodology for Integrated Distributional Analysis of Taxes and Transfers
Distributional analyses play a prominent role in policy discussions. Both tax and transfer policy have important distributional consequences, but traditionally they have been examined separately. This report describes a new methodology for integrated distributional analysis that imports results...
Business Tax Reform
Donald Marron, Institute Fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, testified before the US Senate Committee on Finance as part of the hearing "Business Tax Reform." Marron presented seven main points about business tax reform based on the proposals that have been discussed by the Congress...
Neutral Tax Reform with 15 Percent Business Income Tax Rate
The Trump administration has announced the broad outlines of a tax reform plan that contains many provisions similar to those in the House GOP tax reform “blueprint” announced last year, but there are fundamental differences in the provisions affecting businesses and investors. While different,...
Potential Linkages between a U.S. Carbon Tax and the Earned Income Tax Credit
This brief summarizes, individually and jointly, an excise tax on carbon and an expansion of EITC benefits to childless workers. We find that although in principle a carbon tax that lowers wages could affect EITC benefits and thus impact low-to-moderate income households, the likely magnitude of...
A U.S. Carbon Tax and the Earned Income Tax Credit
This paper examines, individually and jointly, an excise tax on carbon and an expansion of EITC benefits to childless workers. We estimate how an illustrative tax of $32 per ton of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion would burden households differentially across the income distribution, how it could...
Comprehensive Tax Reform
Mark Mazur, director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, testified before the US Senate Committee on Finance as part of the hearing "Comprehensive Tax Reform: Prospects and Challenges." Mazur presented the three principles of tax policy, reviewed lessons from previous reform efforts, and...
A Repatriation Tax on Foreign Income of US-Based Multinational Corporations
This year, Congress will consider what may be the biggest tax bill in decades. This is one of a series of briefs the Tax Policy Center has prepared to help people follow the debate. Each focuses on a key tax policy issue that Congress and the Trump administration may address. This brief...
Options for Small Business Tax Reform
Mark Mazur, Director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, testified before the US Senate Committee on Small Business during a hearing entitled “Tax Reform: Removing the Barriers to Small Business Growth.” In his testimony, Mazur presented a review of the principles of desirable tax policy,...