This paper addresses economic issues related to the unemployment insurance (UI) system, focusing on the worker- and employer-facing aspects of UI policy—i.e., the ways that benefits are provided to workers and that employers are taxed to fund those benefits. We outline principles for optimal...
On September 24, 2019, Janet Holtzblatt presented at TPC's event, "Taxing Wealth." This slide deck provides an overview of the concept of a wealth tax and presents three design options to create one. View a live recording of Holtzblatt's presentation here.
This policy brief summarizes the implications of a carbon-constrained future on coal-dependent local governments in the United States. It considers the outlook for US coal production over the next decade under such conditions and explores how county finances could be affected. It also considers...
This report analyzes the main provisions of the federal income tax code that provide benefits to families with children, comparing current law with what would be happening had the TCJA not been enacted, and discusses the TCJA’s implications for families of different income levels. On net, almost...
The Filer Voter experiment, conducted in 2018, assessed the effectiveness of conducting voter registration drives at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites for lower-income households in Cleveland and Dallas. The Filer Voter program doubled the likelihood of unregistered voters registering...
The earned income tax credit provides substantial assistance to low- and moderate-income workers. Benefits tilt heavily to families with children. Prompted in part by the success of the credit and in part by shortcomings in the credit, policymakers, advocates, and analysts have offered up reform...
The cost-of-living refund (CLR), a proposal from the Economic Security Project, would revise the current earned income tax credit (EITC) by increasing benefits for many people, expanding eligibility for the credit, and paying the credit in advance via monthly payments. The proposal would provide...
This report analyzes a straightforward mechanism to mitigate middle-class wage stagnation: a wage tax credit of 100 percent of earnings up to a maximum credit of $10,000, called a universal earned income tax credit. The child tax credit would increase from $2,000 to $2,500 and be made fully...
The Filer Voter experiment assessed the effectiveness of conducting voter registration drives at sites providing free income tax preparation assistance to low-and moderate-income households in Cleveland, OH, and Dallas, TX. We find that the program doubled the likelihood of unregistered tax...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed into law on a dramatically accelerated schedule. That speed and the enormous scope of the TJCA and its individual elements suggests that alternatives may have been overlooked. The consequences of a proposed change in tax law are usually estimated with a...
Rethinking Unemployment Insurance Taxes and Benefits
This paper addresses economic issues related to the unemployment insurance (UI) system, focusing on the worker- and employer-facing aspects of UI policy—i.e., the ways that benefits are provided to workers and that employers are taxed to fund those benefits. We outline principles for optimal...
Should Wealth be Taxed?
On September 24, 2019, Janet Holtzblatt presented at TPC's event, "Taxing Wealth." This slide deck provides an overview of the concept of a wealth tax and presents three design options to create one. View a live recording of Holtzblatt's presentation here.
Why Local Governments Should Prepare for the Fiscal Effects of a Dwindling Coal Industry
This policy brief summarizes the implications of a carbon-constrained future on coal-dependent local governments in the United States. It considers the outlook for US coal production over the next decade under such conditions and explores how county finances could be affected. It also considers...
Shifting Child Tax Benefits in the TCJA Left Most Families About the Same
This report analyzes the main provisions of the federal income tax code that provide benefits to families with children, comparing current law with what would be happening had the TCJA not been enacted, and discusses the TCJA’s implications for families of different income levels. On net, almost...
The Filer Voter Experiment: How Effective is Voter Registration at Tax Time?
The Filer Voter experiment, conducted in 2018, assessed the effectiveness of conducting voter registration drives at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites for lower-income households in Cleveland and Dallas. The Filer Voter program doubled the likelihood of unregistered voters registering...
Redesigning the EITC: Issues in Design, Eligibility, Delivery, and Administration
The earned income tax credit provides substantial assistance to low- and moderate-income workers. Benefits tilt heavily to families with children. Prompted in part by the success of the credit and in part by shortcomings in the credit, policymakers, advocates, and analysts have offered up reform...
Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit: The Economic Security Project’s Cost-of-Living Refund
The cost-of-living refund (CLR), a proposal from the Economic Security Project, would revise the current earned income tax credit (EITC) by increasing benefits for many people, expanding eligibility for the credit, and paying the credit in advance via monthly payments. The proposal would provide...
A Universal EITC: Sharing the Gains from Economic Growth, Encouraging Work, and Supporting Families
This report analyzes a straightforward mechanism to mitigate middle-class wage stagnation: a wage tax credit of 100 percent of earnings up to a maximum credit of $10,000, called a universal earned income tax credit. The child tax credit would increase from $2,000 to $2,500 and be made fully...
The Filer Voter experiment: How effective is voter registration at tax time?
The Filer Voter experiment assessed the effectiveness of conducting voter registration drives at sites providing free income tax preparation assistance to low-and moderate-income households in Cleveland, OH, and Dallas, TX. We find that the program doubled the likelihood of unregistered tax...
The TCJA: What Might Have Been
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed into law on a dramatically accelerated schedule. That speed and the enormous scope of the TJCA and its individual elements suggests that alternatives may have been overlooked. The consequences of a proposed change in tax law are usually estimated with a...