Barack Obama

A Small But Important Change in Retirement Savings Rules

Earlier this year, the Obama Administration proposed a small and almost unnoticed change in retirement savings rules that could be a big help to middle-income seniors who want to preserve assets to pay for medical and long-term care costs in very old age. The proposal would exempt those who have $

April 27, 2015Howard Gleckman

: TaxVox

If Wishes Were Taxes, Reformers Would Smile

Everything could come up roses for Rubio and Lee. At least one version of dynamic scoring—accounting for macroeconomic effects of a proposal—has produced some rather glowing estimates of senators Marco Rubio’s and Mike Lee’s tax plan. The Tax Foundation says the Rubio-Lee plan would increase tax

March 9, 2015Renu Zaretsky

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

The President’s Capital Gains Proposals: An Opening for Business Tax Reform?

In his budget proposal, President Obama would raise capital gains taxes as a way to finance middle class tax relief. Along with many Republicans, he also supports tax rate cuts for business and efforts to prevent multinational corporations from avoiding U. S. taxation. This raises an intriguing

February 6, 2015C. Eugene Steuerle

Business Taxes: TaxVox

Do Obama’s Corporate Tax Proposals Add Up?

The tax proposals in President Obama’s 2016 budget combine two interesting ideas for international reform with his often-stated--but still vague-- goal of a broad-based corporate tax overhaul. First, the framework: Obama has once again proposed cutting the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from the

February 4, 2015Howard Gleckman

: TaxVox

Digging Deeper into the President’s “Middle Class Economics” Plan

An analysis lays a foundation for debate. The TPC has a new paper on the distributional effects of the President’s tax proposals . His tax cuts primarily benefit low-income single workers and families with children. Households with very high incomes and substantial capital assets would pay more. A

February 2, 2015Renu Zaretsky

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Obama's Failure to Kill 529 Plans May Say Less About Tax Reform Than You Think

After President Obama proposed, and rapidly abandoned, a plan to curb the tax advantages of Sec. 529 college savings accounts, several wise observers, including my friend David Wessel at Brookings, saw an object lesson for broad-based tax reform. To wit: If lawmakers can’t ditch a single $1 billion

January 30, 2015Howard Gleckman

: TaxVox

“Money Is Like Manure… Not Worth a Thing Unless It’s Spread Around.”

TPC shows how President Obama would redistribute income from the rich to the poor. The President will release his budget next week, and with it, a tax plan analyzed by the Tax Policy Center . TPC’s Howard Gleckman explains that under the plan, after- tax income would increase by about $175 in 2016

January 29, 2015Renu Zaretsky

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Is Obama Closing Retirement Savings Loopholes or Just Curbing Congress’ Generosity?

In his upcoming budget, President Obama will propose to strip away the “loopholes” that permit wealthy individuals to accumulate large amounts in tax-favored retirement plans. He would prohibit a taxpayer from contributing any more to IRAs or other qualified retirement plans once his or her

January 28, 2015Steven M. Rosenthal

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

How Obama’s Tax Plan Will Redistribute Income from the Very Rich To The Poor

President Obama’s latest tax package, which he’ll unveil in detail next week along with his new budget, would lower taxes for low-income households and significantly raise taxes for the highest income 1 percent—those making $663,000 or more, according to new Tax Policy Center estimates . Middle-

January 28, 2015Howard Gleckman

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Adjusting the President’s Capital Gains Proposal

President Obama’s new proposal to tax capital gains at death is a welcome change that would close a huge loophole, but it suffers from a serious flaw: For some assets, it would be a record-keeping nightmare. Fortunately, there is an easy fix. The proposal is part of a broader tax plan that Obama

January 21, 2015William G. Gale