Tax credits are being touted as possible mechanisms for expanding health insurance coverage in the United States. Analysts, members of Congress, and the Bush administration have all developed tax credit proposals in the past few years. However, although tax credit approaches are clearly...
[Contra Costa Times] Economics can sometimes go round the bend. For instance, in theory, you could avoid the drawbacks of taxes - discouraging work and saving and encouraging tax shelters - by taxing people randomly. The idea is that you can't avoid taxes if you can't anticipate them....
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle argues that in a world with multiple transfer and tax programs, one can't solve the issue of how to set tax rates unless the tax and spending sides of the budget are analyzed together, and unless phaseouts of various tax and expenditure benefits are considered along...
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle describes how tax legislation in 2001 brought to light the difficulty with trying to deal with only one side of the budget at a time, especially with regard to the progressivity issue.
[Financial Times] In many ways, the debate over the tax bill was simply a warm-up for the much larger budgetary issues that Congress and President George W. Bush must face over the next few years. There is little doubt that if healthcare and retirement spending increase as scheduled,...
[New York Times] President Bush will sign his long-promised tax cut today. But conservatives shouldn't break out the champagne just yet, nor should liberals start taking their antidepressants. Passing the cuts was easy. Mesmerized by projections of mountainous surpluses, few legislators...
[Houston Chronicle] Why is the tax code so complicated? Because whenever politicians face important tax policy choices, they always compromise with more complexity. That way they can avoid painful trade-offs.
In principle, both American voters and their elected officials want to support marriage and the family. One would expect, then, that our expenditure programs and tax code would reflect this desire. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Instead of a consistent policy, we have a crazy quilt...
A bipartisan consensus favors public policy initiatives to expand health insurance coverage. This paper summarizes new CPS data on health insurance coverage for the nonelderly and discusses the issues involved in subsidizing health insurance. We outline a tax credit option designed to diminish...
Health Insurance Tax Credits
Tax credits are being touted as possible mechanisms for expanding health insurance coverage in the United States. Analysts, members of Congress, and the Bush administration have all developed tax credit proposals in the past few years. However, although tax credit approaches are clearly...
New Tax Laws A Bizarre and Confounding Mix
[Contra Costa Times] Economics can sometimes go round the bend. For instance, in theory, you could avoid the drawbacks of taxes - discouraging work and saving and encouraging tax shelters - by taxing people randomly. The idea is that you can't avoid taxes if you can't anticipate them....
The Merger of Tax & Expenditure Policy in the 2001 Tax Legislation (Part 2 of 2)
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle argues that in a world with multiple transfer and tax programs, one can't solve the issue of how to set tax rates unless the tax and spending sides of the budget are analyzed together, and unless phaseouts of various tax and expenditure benefits are considered along...
The Merger of Tax & Expenditure Policy in the 2001 Tax Legislation (Part 1 of 2)
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle describes how tax legislation in 2001 brought to light the difficulty with trying to deal with only one side of the budget at a time, especially with regard to the progressivity issue.
Spending is Key to Tough Tax Questions
[Financial Times] In many ways, the debate over the tax bill was simply a warm-up for the much larger budgetary issues that Congress and President George W. Bush must face over the next few years. There is little doubt that if healthcare and retirement spending increase as scheduled,...
Don't Count on That Tax Cut
[New York Times] President Bush will sign his long-promised tax cut today. But conservatives shouldn't break out the champagne just yet, nor should liberals start taking their antidepressants. Passing the cuts was easy. Mesmerized by projections of mountainous surpluses, few legislators...
What Next if Not Simplification?
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle argues for simplification as a main goal of tax reform.
Think FRED: Tax Cuts Just Add to Complexity
[Houston Chronicle] Why is the tax code so complicated? Because whenever politicians face important tax policy choices, they always compromise with more complexity. That way they can avoid painful trade-offs.
Valuing Marital Commitment in our Transfer and Tax Systems
In principle, both American voters and their elected officials want to support marriage and the family. One would expect, then, that our expenditure programs and tax code would reflect this desire. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Instead of a consistent policy, we have a crazy quilt...
First, Do No Harm: Designing Tax Incentives for Health Insurance
A bipartisan consensus favors public policy initiatives to expand health insurance coverage. This paper summarizes new CPS data on health insurance coverage for the nonelderly and discusses the issues involved in subsidizing health insurance. We outline a tax credit option designed to diminish...