Tax Policy Center

Elaine Maag

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox
If a tax cut is scheduled to expire, but the focus of the debate is elsewhere, will people notice? Will the average family be surprised...
November 30, 2012Elaine Maag
Individual Taxes: TaxVox
The Child Tax Credit (CTC), a key piece of the safety net for low- and moderate-income families, is in jeopardy as the nation hurtles towards...
October 25, 2012Elaine Maag
Individual Taxes: TaxVox
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) provides a significant income boost to low-income single-parent families, but can severely penalize those families if the parent marries...
August 6, 2012Elaine Maag
Individual Taxes: TaxVox
An ominous announcement for a House Ways & Means Committee joint hearing on “how welfare and tax benefits can discourage work” seemed a set-up to...
June 29, 2012Elaine Maag
Individual Taxes: TaxVox
State taxes and transfers can be an important form of assistance for low-income families. But the amount of government help varies widely among the states...
May 25, 2012Elaine Maag
State and Local Issues: TaxVox
Oklahoma, Nebraska, and my home state of Kansas are debating proposals to sharply reduce or eliminate their personal income tax. That raises important questions about...
March 27, 2012Elaine Maag
Individual Taxes: TaxVox
In just a few years, the 2010 health reform law will begin providing subsidies to help low- and moderate-income people buy health insurance. And that...
November 28, 2011Elaine Maag
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox
The economy needs fixing, all agree. So naturally, every Republican presidential candidate has a plan for changing the federal tax system. Herman Cain has his...
November 4, 2011Elaine Maag
Individual Taxes: TaxVox
Last week, the Census released the official poverty numbers for 2010. The proportion of people in poverty (15.1 percent) reached its second highest point since...
September 22, 2011Elaine Maag
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox
co-authored with Mark Greenberg, Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy During the Presidential campaign, Barack Obama talked about the Making Work Pay tax credit as being an offset to the payroll tax on the first $8,100 of earnings for each worker (6.2% * $8,100 = about $500). During the campaign, Tax Policy Center analyzed the credit in the context of individual earnings – even in the case of married couples. If only one partner worked, we assumed the maximum credit for the couple was $500 and if two partners worked, TPC assumed the maximum credit increased to $1,000. Not so, as it turns out.
February 19, 2009Elaine Maag