Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: Marginal Tax Rates

T08-0227 - Senator McCain's Tax Proposals as Described by Economic Advisers: Tax Units with a Change in Effective Marginal Individual Income Tax Rates (EMTR) by Cash Income Level, 2012

2012 distribution, by cash income level, of changes in effective marginal individual income tax rates associated with Senator McCain's tax proposals as described by his advisers.
September 28, 2008
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: Marginal Tax Rates

T08-0228 - Senator McCain's Tax Proposals as Described by Economic Advisers: Tax Units with a Change in Effective Marginal Individual Income Tax Rates (EMTR) by Cash Income Percentile, 2012

2012 distribution, by cash income percentile, of changes in effective marginal individual income tax rates associated with Senator McCain's tax proposals as described by his advisers.
September 28, 2008
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: Marginal Tax Rates

T08-0230 - Senator McCain's Tax Proposals as Described by Economic Advisers, Tax Cuts Extended: Tax Units with a Change in Effective Marginal Individual Income Tax Rates (EMTR) by Cash Income Percentile, 2012

2012 distribution, by cash income percentile, of changes in effective marginal individual income tax rates associated with Senator McCain's tax proposals as described by his advisers compared to a tax extended baseline.
September 28, 2008
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: Marginal Tax Rates

T08-0229 - Senator McCain's Tax Proposals as Described by Economic Advisers, Tax Cuts Extended: Tax Units with a Change in Effective Marginal Individual Income Tax Rates (EMTR) by Cash Income Level, 2012

2012 distribution, by cash income level, of changes in effective marginal individual income tax rates associated with Senator McCain's tax proposals as described by his advisers compared to a tax cuts extended baseline.
September 28, 2008
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: Marginal Tax Rates

T08-0231 - Average Effective Marginal Individual Income Tax Rates by Cash Income Level, 2009

The average effective marginal individual income tax rate by cash income level for 2009. There are estimates for the rates under current law, Senator Obama's tax proposal, and Senator McCain's tax proposal. Estimates are weighted by the dollar value of wages and salaries.
September 28, 2008
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: Marginal Tax Rates

T08-0232 - Average Effective Marginal Individual Income Tax Rates by Cash Income Level, 2012

The average effective marginal individual income tax rate by cash income level for 2012. There are estimates for the rates under current law, a tax cuts extended scenario, Senator Obama's tax proposal, and Senator McCain's tax proposal. Estimates are weighted by the dollar value of wages and
September 28, 2008
Federal Budget and Economy: Brief

Sunday Forum: The Debt Bomb

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette op-ed, September 28, 2008. The current financial crisis poses a severe threat to the economy, but it also creates a tremendous opportunity, writes Rudolph Penner in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It gives politicians cover for undertaking painful actions to get the long-run
September 28, 2008Rudolph G. Penner
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

The Worst Tax Holiday Idea Ever

We had fun ridiculing the idea of suspending the gasoline tax for the summer, but the gas tax holiday was minor mischief compared with the newest idea for dealing with the financial market meltdown: a two year holiday on capital gains taxes.
September 26, 2008Leonard E. Burman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Tax Credits for Electric Cars

Earlier this week, both the House and Senate passed measures establishing generous tax credits for electric plug-in cars. The Senate plan gives consumers a credit of up to $7,500 for the purchase of a plug-in car, while the House plan offers consumers a credit of up to $5,000. Under both plans, the value of the credit increases with the battery capacity of the vehicle, meaning that more efficient cars receive larger tax credits.
September 26, 2008Benjamin H. Harris
Individual Taxes: Capital Gains

T08-0217 - Repeal Individual Income Tax on Long-Term Capital Gains, Distribution of Federal Tax Change by Cash Income Level, 2009

Distributional affects by cash income class of repealing the individual income tax on long-term capital gains.
September 25, 2008
Individual Taxes: Capital Gains

T08-0218 - Repeal Individual Income Tax on Long-Term Capital Gains, Distribution of Federal Tax Change by Cash Income Percentile, 2009

Distributional affects by cash income percentiles of repealing the individual income tax on long-term capital gains.
September 25, 2008
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Refundable Health Insurance Tax Credits

In a previous post, Len Burman reported that a substantial portion of Senator Obama’s non-health tax proposals would be provided as net refunds, over and above income tax liability. This is a key difference from Senator McCain, whose proposals would mostly benefit taxpayers (and mostly those with high incomes).
September 23, 2008Surachai Khitatrakun
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

The Bailout and the Next President: Getting Real

Barack Obama and John McCain are slowly beginning to get it: For the next President, this week’s financial market meltdown has changed everything. Suddenly, their grandiose promises of new tax cuts and ambitious spending are sounding more hollow than ever. An $11.3 trillion national debt will do that to you every time.
September 23, 2008Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: Alternative Minimum Tax

T08-0215 - Major Individual Income Tax Elements of H.R. 6049 as Amended by the Senate, The Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008, Includes Extensions of AMT Higher Exemption Levels and Allowance of Personal Credits, Distribution by Cash Income Level 2008

Distribution, by cash income level, of the federal tax change of major individual income tax elements of H.R. 6049 as amended and passed by the Senate. Provisions modeled are the extension of the state and local sales tax deduction, the tuition and fees deduction, and the educator expense deduction
September 23, 2008
Federal Budget and Economy

T08-0216 - Major Individual Income Tax Elements of H.R. 6049 as Amended by the Senate, The Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008, Includes Extension of AMT Higher Exemption Levels and Allowance of Personal Credits, Distribution by Cash Income Percentile, 2008

Distribution, by cash income percentile, of the federal tax change of major individual income tax elements of H.R. 6049 as amended and passed by the Senate. Provisions modeled are the extension of the state and local sales tax deduction, the tuition and fees deduction, and the educator expense
September 23, 2008
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

The Blank Check Bailout

The Bush Administration has asked Congress to write the biggest blank check in the history of the planet. And Congress may very well do it. The Administration’s proposal requires only semi-annual reports to congressional committees and explicitly exempts any bailout-related actions from judicial review. This has a whiff of the war on terror about it. “We are in a crisis,” the Administration cries, “and you must act now. Do not stop and think. Do not amend. Just approve what we say or we will blame you for what happens next.”
September 22, 2008Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Bad Markets and Deficits

Crumbling financial markets mean more awful news for governments already reeling from an economic slowdown and mortgage foreclosures. The only glimmer of optimism is that the sluggish revenues and rising spending that are around the corner should only be transitory. Assuming the markets and the economy rebound, these fiscal shocks will be a fading memory after a few years.
September 18, 2008Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

AIG: Ben Blinked

Just when we thought the bailouts were over, just when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson insisted failing financial institutions would, like Lehman Brothers, sink or swim on their own, along comes AIG. Make no mistake, the Wall Street financiers called Bernanke and Paulson’s bluff. After the two men said Washington would not throw taxpayer money into the AIG pot, the big money guys went all in, insisting they would not rescue the rapidly-sinking financial services giant without cash from Washington.
September 17, 2008Howard Gleckman
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Campaign Deficits

In January, the Congressional Budget Office projected that the federal budget would maintain rough fiscal balance over the coming decade. Last week, CBO updated that forecast and found that the government would run a cumulative $2.3 trillion deficit. That sharp change reflected a slowing economy and rapid spending growth.
September 16, 2008Roberton C. Williams
Federal Budget and Economy: Research report

An Updated Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans: Executive Summary - Revised September 15, 2008

Both John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed tax plans that would substantially increase the national debt over the next ten years, according to a newly updated analysis by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. Compared to current law, TPC estimates the Obama plan would cut taxes by $2.9 trillion
September 15, 2008Roberton C. WilliamsHoward Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: Research report

An Updated Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans: Updated September 12, 2008

Tax and fiscal policy will loom large in the next president's domestic policy agenda. Nearly all of the tax cuts enacted since 2001 expire at the end of 2010 and the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) threatens to ensnare tens of millions of Americans. While a permanent fix palatable to both
September 12, 2008Roberton C. WilliamsLeonard E. BurmanSurachai KhitatrakunJeffrey RohalyEric Toder
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Taxes and Religion

Should clergy have the right to stand up in their tax-exempt pulpits and endorse political candidates? For a half century, the answer has been no. But The Washington Post's Peter Slevin reported on Sept. 8 that a conservative group called the Alliance Defense Fund wants to change that.
September 11, 2008Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

The Budget Deficit is Getting Worse

The deficit is about to get a lot worse, a lot faster. At least that's the latest projection by the Congressional Budget Office. In the past six months, Washington's medium-term fiscal health has deteriorated markedly, and what CBO once projected to be a small surplus beginning in 2012 has now morphed into annual deficits in excess of $100 billion as far as the eye can see (to borrow a phrase).
September 9, 2008Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Obama and the Deficit

I was, to say the least, surprised to read a couple of comments posted last week that claimed FactCheck.org was asserting Barack Obama’s tax-and-spending plans would pay for themselves. I was even more surprised to read that FactCheck was supposedly basing its conclusions on TPC data. So, I looked it up.
September 9, 2008Howard Gleckman
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Who Is John McCain?

Listening to John McCain's acceptance speech last night, I found myself asking the question that others have been asking me for the past year: Who is John McCain really? Is he the McCain of 2000-2003, who blasted both wasteful government spending and the unaffordable Bush tax cuts? Or the McCain of 2008, who not only wants to extend President Bush's tax cuts but expand them without coming close to paying for this largess? Is he the supporter of limiting offshore oil drilling and requiring tradable credits for carbon-based fuels--which would sharply raise the price of oil and gasoline? Or is he the new darling of the "drill baby drill" crowd?
September 5, 2008Howard Gleckman