Although the US tax code does not explicitly reference race or ethnicity, the federal income tax system contributes to racial disparities when factors that affect tax liabilities are correlated with race. This study is the first to use the Tax Policy Center’s microsimulation model—newly enhanced...
This comment letter to the US Senate Finance Committee addresses the tax treatment of cryptocurrency staking. Stakers validate blockchain transactions and receive compensation for that work in the form of more cryptocurrency tokens. They should pay ordinary income taxes on the rewards they...
In 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the largest inflation adjustment in decades. This brief reviews the history of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and federal income taxes, including the indexing of the tax code in the early 1980s. It also describes the chained CPI, which is...
This working paper describes the method the Tax Policy Center (TPC) has used to enhance its tax microsimulation model to enable analysis of the distributional effects of tax policies by race and ethnicity. It also presents preliminary results using the enhanced model. Like microsimulation models...
Both the US and the UK experienced dramatic slowdowns in economic activity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each enacted large-scale responses targeted at workers, and in addition, the US extended direct cash aid broadly through economic impact payments (EIPs) and then to most parents with...
In response to Hamilton’s upwardly redistributive “funding system,” which directed revenue from a regressive tax on whiskey to the wealthy owners of public debt, western Pennsylvania farmers revolted, seeking a new tax system that was “equal” – that is, proportionate to wealth. To the extent...
In the years following the American Revolution, the states and Congress struggled to pay down the domestic debt, which had consolidated in the hands of wealthy speculators. With a serious money shortage in the countryside, small farmers found they could not pay their taxes – and many were angry...
Racial Disparities in the Treatment of Capital Income in the Federal Individual Income Tax
Although the US tax code does not explicitly reference race or ethnicity, the federal income tax system contributes to racial disparities when factors that affect tax liabilities are correlated with race. This study is the first to use the Tax Policy Center’s microsimulation model—newly enhanced...
Balancing the Need for Tax Fairness with the Unique Characteristics of Cryptocurrencies
This comment letter to the US Senate Finance Committee addresses the tax treatment of cryptocurrency staking. Stakers validate blockchain transactions and receive compensation for that work in the form of more cryptocurrency tokens. They should pay ordinary income taxes on the rewards they...
An Analysis of the Updated Graetz Proposal to Enact a Broad Reform of the Federal Tax System
Incorporating Intangibles into TPC Effective Tax Rate Models
Deconstructing the Fair Tax
Adjusting the Individual Income Tax for Inflation
In 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the largest inflation adjustment in decades. This brief reviews the history of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and federal income taxes, including the indexing of the tax code in the early 1980s. It also describes the chained CPI, which is...
A New Approach for Estimating the Impact of Tax Policies by Race and Ethnicity
This working paper describes the method the Tax Policy Center (TPC) has used to enhance its tax microsimulation model to enable analysis of the distributional effects of tax policies by race and ethnicity. It also presents preliminary results using the enhanced model. Like microsimulation models...
Weathering the Economic Storm of Covid-19
Both the US and the UK experienced dramatic slowdowns in economic activity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each enacted large-scale responses targeted at workers, and in addition, the US extended direct cash aid broadly through economic impact payments (EIPs) and then to most parents with...
The Whiskey Rebellion and the Fight for Equal Taxation in Early America
In response to Hamilton’s upwardly redistributive “funding system,” which directed revenue from a regressive tax on whiskey to the wealthy owners of public debt, western Pennsylvania farmers revolted, seeking a new tax system that was “equal” – that is, proportionate to wealth. To the extent...
Taxation and the Origins of the Constitution
In the years following the American Revolution, the states and Congress struggled to pay down the domestic debt, which had consolidated in the hands of wealthy speculators. With a serious money shortage in the countryside, small farmers found they could not pay their taxes – and many were angry...