In January, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its first economic and budgetary outlook of the decade. Even prior to the recent COVID-19 crisis, along with its attendant impact on the budget, CBO projected a deficit of more than $1 trillion for fiscal year 2020. The federal budget is...
In this brief, we estimate the revenue and distributional effects of Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2020 campaign tax proposals. We show the revenue and distributional implications of tax proposals excluding those related to his Medicare for All plan. We also report the revenue estimates (but not the...
In recognition of the important work family caregivers do, the Economic Security Project (ESP) has proposed that they be eligible for the cost-of-living refund, an expansion of the earned income tax credit (EITC). Among other changes to the EITC, the cost-of-living refund would extend benefits...
Congress and the president have put the federal budget on track for unsustainable and rising deficits without end. Mandatory spending programs—those that continue automatically without new appropriations—are expanding at a faster rate than discretionary spending programs, while total spending...
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced tax expenditures but by much less than the Tax Reform Act of 1986, relative to the size of the economy. In this report, we review the major changes from the new law to individual (nonbusiness) and business tax expenditures. The former category includes tax...
Tax expenditures are the revenue losses attributable to special provisions in tax laws that reduce taxes for certain sources or uses of income or for certain groups of taxpayers. They are called tax expenditures because many of them effectively serve the same function as direct spending programs...
In this brief, we consider both personal and business income tax expenditures at the state level. We use California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia as examples. We separate tax expenditures into those that occur because of conformity with federal tax provisions and those...
Tracy Gordon, senior fellow, testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on the Budget for a hearing on “Why Federal Investments Matter: Stability from Congress to State Capitals.” In her testimony she notes that while states and localities are key economic players and service...
This brief examines major tax expenditures for health care under current law and analyzes three potential reforms to the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) premiums. We use the Tax Policy Center microsimulation model’s revamped health module as well as health insurance...
Until now TPC’s basic distributional analysis did not separately examine charitable contributions. As part of this research project, we have created a new module that extends the capacity of our microsimulation model to simulate the effect of proposed policy changes on charitable contributions....
The Decade of Deficits: The Latest Ominous Projections from the Congressional Budget Office
In January, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its first economic and budgetary outlook of the decade. Even prior to the recent COVID-19 crisis, along with its attendant impact on the budget, CBO projected a deficit of more than $1 trillion for fiscal year 2020. The federal budget is...
An Analysis of Senator Sanders's Tax Proposals
In this brief, we estimate the revenue and distributional effects of Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2020 campaign tax proposals. We show the revenue and distributional implications of tax proposals excluding those related to his Medicare for All plan. We also report the revenue estimates (but not the...
Extending the Earned Income Tax Credit: How the Economic Security Project’s Cost-of-Living Refund Would Affect Family Caregivers
In recognition of the important work family caregivers do, the Economic Security Project (ESP) has proposed that they be eligible for the cost-of-living refund, an expansion of the earned income tax credit (EITC). Among other changes to the EITC, the cost-of-living refund would extend benefits...
Debt and Politics: Integrating America’s Fiscal Outlook with New Campaign Proposals
Congress and the president have put the federal budget on track for unsustainable and rising deficits without end. Mandatory spending programs—those that continue automatically without new appropriations—are expanding at a faster rate than discretionary spending programs, while total spending...
How Did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Change Tax Expenditures?
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced tax expenditures but by much less than the Tax Reform Act of 1986, relative to the size of the economy. In this report, we review the major changes from the new law to individual (nonbusiness) and business tax expenditures. The former category includes tax...
Tax Expenditure Basics
Tax expenditures are the revenue losses attributable to special provisions in tax laws that reduce taxes for certain sources or uses of income or for certain groups of taxpayers. They are called tax expenditures because many of them effectively serve the same function as direct spending programs...
State Income Tax Expenditures
In this brief, we consider both personal and business income tax expenditures at the state level. We use California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia as examples. We separate tax expenditures into those that occur because of conformity with federal tax provisions and those...
Strengthening the Federal-State-Local Partnership in Recession and Recovery
Tracy Gordon, senior fellow, testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on the Budget for a hearing on “Why Federal Investments Matter: Stability from Congress to State Capitals.” In her testimony she notes that while states and localities are key economic players and service...
Reforming Tax Expenditures for Health Care
This brief examines major tax expenditures for health care under current law and analyzes three potential reforms to the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) premiums. We use the Tax Policy Center microsimulation model’s revamped health module as well as health insurance...
Expanding Modeling Capability on Tax Expenditures for Charitable Contributions
Until now TPC’s basic distributional analysis did not separately examine charitable contributions. As part of this research project, we have created a new module that extends the capacity of our microsimulation model to simulate the effect of proposed policy changes on charitable contributions....