Some of the costliest tax expenditures the federal government allows go to subsidizing homeownership. In 2004, the total tax expenditure value of the mortgage interest deduction was $70.2 billion while the value for the real estate tax deduction was $19.3 billion. Fifty-four percent of these...
Several pressures are combining to force lawmakers to seek a more permanent resolution to the estate tax issue. This article suggests a possible compromise that would enhance the ability of wealthy individuals to avoid paying tax to government and still pass on significant assets to their heirs-...
Although retail gasoline prices have reached an all-time high, gasoline taxes are not to blame. Gasoline taxes (both federal and state) average 43 cents per gallon and have fallen in real terms. Gasoline prices and taxes do vary across regions but there is little correlation between tax rates...
Child care's costs can be too high for low-income working families. As of 2004, along with a federal credit for child care expenses, 27 states offered tax credits or deductions to offset these expenses. Thirteen states offered a refundable child care creditat least for low-income families;...
The federal tax system provides little incentive for participation in tax-preferred saving plans to households that most need to save more for retirement and whose contributions would most likely represent an actual increase in savings. By contrast, the tax code provides its strongest incentives...
The employer exclusion of contributions for medical insurance premiums and medical care from employee income taxes is the single largest tax expenditure in the federal budget, worth $112 billion in fiscal year 2005. Even when adjusting for growth in medical prices, the employer exclusion still...
Leonard Burman's testimony, submitted to the U.S. Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, focuses on both the original minimum tax and its successor, the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT). Both the minimum tax and the AMT have applied in the past to a small minority of...
Provisions in the federal income tax code that treat married couples as one tax unit and cohabiting couples as two tax units result in both marriage penalties and bonuses. This analysis uses data from the 2002 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) to show the extent to which low-income,...
Since Social Security was first enacted, vast changes have occurred in the economic and social circumstances of the nation. In testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, senior fellow Eugene Steuerle addresses Social Security reform and related budget pressures. He presents an...
Encouraging and strengthening marriage continues to move up the U.S. social policy agenda. This analysis uses nationally representative data on cohabiting couples with children from the 2002 round of the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) to assess marriage penalties or bonuses facing...
Who Receives Homeownership Tax Deductions and How Much?
Some of the costliest tax expenditures the federal government allows go to subsidizing homeownership. In 2004, the total tax expenditure value of the mortgage interest deduction was $70.2 billion while the value for the real estate tax deduction was $19.3 billion. Fifty-four percent of these...
Estate Tax Reform - A Third Option
Several pressures are combining to force lawmakers to seek a more permanent resolution to the estate tax issue. This article suggests a possible compromise that would enhance the ability of wealthy individuals to avoid paying tax to government and still pass on significant assets to their heirs-...
Gasoline Taxes and Rising Fuel Prices
Although retail gasoline prices have reached an all-time high, gasoline taxes are not to blame. Gasoline taxes (both federal and state) average 43 cents per gallon and have fallen in real terms. Gasoline prices and taxes do vary across regions but there is little correlation between tax rates...
State Tax Credits for Child Care
Child care's costs can be too high for low-income working families. As of 2004, along with a federal credit for child care expenses, 27 states offered tax credits or deductions to offset these expenses. Thirteen states offered a refundable child care creditat least for low-income families;...
Making the Tax System Work for Low-Income Savers
The federal tax system provides little incentive for participation in tax-preferred saving plans to households that most need to save more for retirement and whose contributions would most likely represent an actual increase in savings. By contrast, the tax code provides its strongest incentives...
Growth in the Exclusion of Employer Health Premiums
The employer exclusion of contributions for medical insurance premiums and medical care from employee income taxes is the single largest tax expenditure in the federal budget, worth $112 billion in fiscal year 2005. Even when adjusting for growth in medical prices, the employer exclusion still...
The Expanding Reach of the Individual Alternative Minimum Tax
Leonard Burman's testimony, submitted to the U.S. Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, focuses on both the original minimum tax and its successor, the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT). Both the minimum tax and the AMT have applied in the past to a small minority of...
Taxes and Marriage for Cohabiting Parents
Provisions in the federal income tax code that treat married couples as one tax unit and cohabiting couples as two tax units result in both marriage penalties and bonuses. This analysis uses data from the 2002 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) to show the extent to which low-income,...
Alternatives to Strengthen Social Security
Since Social Security was first enacted, vast changes have occurred in the economic and social circumstances of the nation. In testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, senior fellow Eugene Steuerle addresses Social Security reform and related budget pressures. He presents an...
Irreconcilable Differences?
Encouraging and strengthening marriage continues to move up the U.S. social policy agenda. This analysis uses nationally representative data on cohabiting couples with children from the 2002 round of the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) to assess marriage penalties or bonuses facing...