[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...
This paper presents alternative measures of actual and projected net benefits (benefits minus payroll taxes) from the Old and Survivors Insurance (OASI) component of Social Security, based on results from a microsimulation model. The simulations take into account marital histories, income, and...
The bias against tax simplification is strong, and history does not provide many examples of success. Nonetheless, conventional wisdom on the history lesson may be mistaken.
When a nonprofit engages in business activities unrelated to its nonprofit purposes, taxability is usually not a question of choice; various laws and regulations require that the organization pay taxes on this income and, typically, on sales and property. For related activities, however, a...
[Financial Times] Just how big is the tax cut under debate in the US? How big in relation to the economy and current tax collections? And how big compared with past cuts? We know that President George W. Bush and the House of Representatives want $1,600 billion of tax cuts over 10 years,...
[National Public Radio (NPR)]Urban Institute Senior Fellow and former Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis, Len Burman, expounds upon the earned income tax credit (EITC) as he recounts his experiences with the confusing EITC while helping a single mother with her taxes....
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...
Lifetime Distributional Effects of Social Security Retirement Benefits
This paper presents alternative measures of actual and projected net benefits (benefits minus payroll taxes) from the Old and Survivors Insurance (OASI) component of Social Security, based on results from a microsimulation model. The simulations take into account marital histories, income, and...
The Optimistic View on Simplification
The bias against tax simplification is strong, and history does not provide many examples of success. Nonetheless, conventional wisdom on the history lesson may be mistaken.
When Nonprofits Conduct Exempt Activities as Taxable Enterprises
When a nonprofit engages in business activities unrelated to its nonprofit purposes, taxability is usually not a question of choice; various laws and regulations require that the organization pay taxes on this income and, typically, on sales and property. For related activities, however, a...
Opportunity at Hand: Revising the Child Credit
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle describes how a child credit revision has a chance to achieve bipartisan support.
Keeping the Bush Tax Cut in Proportion
[Financial Times] Just how big is the tax cut under debate in the US? How big in relation to the economy and current tax collections? And how big compared with past cuts? We know that President George W. Bush and the House of Representatives want $1,600 billion of tax cuts over 10 years,...
Tax Complexity and the Working Poor
[National Public Radio (NPR)]Urban Institute Senior Fellow and former Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis, Len Burman, expounds upon the earned income tax credit (EITC) as he recounts his experiences with the confusing EITC while helping a single mother with her taxes....