Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

T08-0070 - Set Dependent Exemption Amount to Double the Personal Exemption Amount, Static Impact on Individual Income Tax Liability and Revenue ($ billions), 2009-18

2009-18 Static impact on individual income tax liability for a proposal to set the dependent exemption to double the personal exemption against four baselines: (1) current law, (2) current law with AMT patch extended, (3) current law with AMT repealed, and (4) tax cuts extended with AMT repealed.
April 15, 2008
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

T08-0071 - Elements of Senator John McCain's Proposed Tax Plans, Impact on Tax Revenue, 2009-18

Impact on tax revenue for select components of Senator John McCain's proposed tax plans including (1) permanent extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, (2) repeal of the AMT, (3) estate tax reform, (4) doubling of the dependent exemption, (5) reduction of the corporate income tax rate and full
April 15, 2008
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Two Cheers for the Income Tax

Like most Americans, I hate preparing my income tax return. And, as a tax policy expert, I know that our current tax system is deeply...
April 14, 2008Leonard E. Burman
Federal Budget and Economy: Journal Article

Fiscal Policy: Fully Account for the Budget, Stick to the Budget, and Work with the Other Party

The fiscal damage to the United States over the last seven years is calculable. It is precisely $3,889,136,064,463, according to the Bush administration's Office of Management and Budget, which totaled up the budgetary cost to date of all the tax cuts and spending increases enacted over the past
April 14, 2008Jason Furman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Why Congress' Housing Fix Won't Help Steve and Laura

The Washington pols who are pushing housing legislation should meet my friends Steve and Laura. They are a 30-something couple with a two-year old daughter, and they have been waiting for years to buy a house.
April 10, 2008Howard Gleckman
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: 2008 Presidential Candidate Proposals

T08-0069 - Five Interpretations of Senator Obama's Proposal to Exempt Seniors Earning Less than $50,000 from Income Tax Against Baselines With and Without the 2007 AMT Patch Extended Static Impact on Individual Income Tax Liability and Revenue ($ billions),

Five interpretations of Senator Obama's proposal to exempt seniors earning less than $50,000 from income tax against baselines with and without the 2007 AMT patch extended. Table reports the static impact on individual income iax liability and revenue.
April 8, 2008
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

McCain: Grasping for the Mantle of Change

I spent about 90 minutes this afternoon interviewing John McCain's chief economic adviser, Doug Holtz-Eakin. He laid out what would be a powerfully ambitious domestic agenda for a President McCain, including big upfront initiatives on climate change and Social Security reform. But he also set the stage for what would be an existential battle between the parties over taxes and spending.
April 7, 2008Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

The Senate Defaults on a Foreclosure Bill

Why is it that the biggest problems always seem to encourage the worst possible solutions? The latest case in point: The Senate's housing bill, grandly titled "The Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008."
April 3, 2008Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: Brief

Empowering the Next President

The Government We Deserve
What if President William Howard Taft and his Congress had written laws that specified how all the governments revenues at the beginning of the 21st century were to be spent? Preposterous? Well, the laws on the books today not only dictate how all revenues collected in 2030 and beyond will be spent
April 2, 2008C. Eugene Steuerle
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

The Paulson Plan: Lots of Details, but Little Focus

What to make of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's plan to rewrite regulation of the financial services industry?
April 1, 2008Howard Gleckman
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

A Choice, Not an Echo

If we can get past all the noise about Barack Obama’s minister, Hillary Clinton’s 11-year-old recollection of an airport tarmac, and John McCain’s stumble over which Iraqi gunmen are backed by the Iranians, voters will actually have real choices this November. If you don’t believe it, think about how they’d manage today’s economy.
March 27, 2008Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Carbon Taxes: Do you want to cut consumption or raise money?

Don’t expect carbon taxes to both dramatically reduce greenhouse gasses and serve as a cash cow for government. They might succeed at one or the other, but not both. That’s the argument Monica Prasad makes in a provocative article in today’s New York Times.
March 25, 2008Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

"A Game With Which I am Not Familiar"

When a young Jack Nicklaus won the 1965 Master's, golf legend Bobby Jones said he "was playing a game with which I am not familiar." I have the same feeling about the financial markets today.
March 20, 2008Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

The Credit Crisis and the States: Only Getting Worse

think I need a drink. Yesterday at TPC, a panel of experts looked at what the credit mess means for state and local governments. The answer is: Nothing good. I felt like I was watching the final minutes of the Super Bowl with a room full of New England Patriots fans.
March 13, 2008Howard Gleckman
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Health Care Tax Credits: Not So Fast

Tax credits for buying health insurance are all the rage. John McCain loves them. So does Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama says he prefers to help people buy coverage with “income-related subsidies,” but these could easily morph into credits as well.
March 11, 2008Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

The Rich are Different

F. Scott Fitzgerald: "The very rich are different from you and me." Ernest Hemingway: "Yes, they have more money." The statisticians at the IRS quietly updated their fascinating data on the richest 400 Americans in response to a Congressional request. The Wall Street Journal's Tom Herman picked it up and published the tables, which we have posted on the Tax Facts website. [Table 1, Table 2, Table 3]
March 7, 2008Leonard E. Burman
: Research report

Taxpayer Eligibility for IRAs

The tax code limits the extent to which individuals may take advantage of the tax benefits associated with traditional and Roth IRAs. The only eligibility criteria for contributing to a Roth IRA are income and filing status. In contrast, eligibility for deducting contributions to a traditional IRA
March 7, 2008Benjamin H. HarrisChristopher Geissler
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

AMT Redux

After a brief winter break, the AMT wars have resumed. By next week, the House will pass a fiscal 2009 budget that, among other things, would extend the annual Alternative Minimum Tax patch for another year. The House Budget Committee projects this would keep 20 million mostly middle class taxpayers off the dreaded levy. But, as it did last year, the House will also insist that the $62 billion fix be paid for with offsetting tax hikes.
March 6, 2008Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Is the Iraq War Ruining the U.S. Economy?

The political Left claims the war in Iraq is ruining the U.S. economy. At the very least, they insist, we would be using the money that is supporting the occupation for more important domestic priorities, such as reforming health care. At worst, they insist, the war is to blame for current economic slump.
March 4, 2008Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: Research report

Tax Rates on Capital Gains and Dividends Under the AMT

Recent tax acts sharply lowered tax rates on long-term capital gains and dividend income. For millions of taxpayers, however, the alternative minimum tax limits the benefits from these cuts by increasing the effective marginal tax rates on capital gains and dividend income. The culprit is the
March 3, 2008Benjamin H. HarrisChristopher Geissler
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Health Insurance Tax Breaks: What Comes Next?

The tax break for employee-sponsored health insurance is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Internal Revenue Code. It gets absolutely no respect.
February 29, 2008Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

The Medicare Crunch: Do We Blame the Boomers or Health Costs?

For years, conventional wisdom in Washington said the nation's long-term fiscal crisis is being driven by the aging of the Baby Boomers and their impact on entitlements, such as Social Security and, especially, Medicare and Medicaid.
February 26, 2008Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

On Taxes, McCain Calls Bush and Raises, Big Time

Today's Washington Post takes Senator John McCain to task for promising unsustainable tax cuts, including making permanent President Bush's tax cuts, repealing the AMT, making permanent the research and experimentation tax credit, cutting the top corporate tax rate from 35 to 25 percent, and allowing businesses to immediately write off all capital investments (rather than depreciating them over time). He has also proposed to require a super-majority vote in Congress for any tax increases. (Last week, TaxVox raised its own questions about how tough it would be for McCain to keep his tax cut promises.)
February 25, 2008Leonard E. Burman
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Seven Questions for Hillary

Hillary Clinton has an uphill struggle to win the Democratic nomination for President. But she is still battling, so I have a few questions for her, as I've had for John McCain and Barack Obama.
February 21, 2008Howard Gleckman
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Risky Business: McCain Vows "No New Taxes."

John McCain now says "no new taxes." It may be a great way to play to a still-skeptical GOP base, but it will be a hard pledge for President McCain to keep. To see how tough, just take a look at his own health care plan.
February 19, 2008Howard Gleckman