Tax Policy Center

tax administration

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

What Will Happen To Voluntary Tax Compliance If a Budget-constrained IRS Is Not Fixed?

Is the IRS such a mess that the nation’s system of voluntary tax compliance is at risk? Will frustrated taxpayers rebel because they can’t get help with a revenue code they can’t understand? Will aggressive taxpayers who recognize that audit rates have plummeted to the lowest levels in years
April 9, 2015Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

The War on the IRS

The massive 2015 spending bill that President Obama is likely to sign this week continues an ongoing effort to trash the Internal Revenue Service. It is a cynical recipe for a self-fulfilling disaster: Give the agency more and more work. Cut its budget. Blame it for failing to do its job. Repeat.
December 16, 2014Howard Gleckman
: TaxVox

Reporting, Responding, and Partnerships

Congress is in recess through the mid-term elections. The Daily Deduction will post each Monday until then. Stranger than fiction: The IRS, “structuring,” and asset seizures. A business’ cash deposits, if under $10,000, do not trigger a government reporting requirement. But that could look like “
October 27, 2014Renu Zaretsky
: TaxVox

Tax Freedom, Tax Avoidance

On the Hill, a vote on internet tax freedom. The House Judiciary Committee expects to mark up a bill to prevent states and cities from taxing internet access tomorrow. The “ Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act ” has bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. State and local internet taxes have
June 17, 2014Renu Zaretsky
: TaxVox

Tax Extenders, Administration and Reform Are On Deck; State Revenues Are Up

This week: The House will vote on tax extenders. In his June policy memo to House Republicans, Majority Leader Eric Cantor notes that there will be votes on three tax extender bills this week. The bills would make permanent (1) small business expensing of up to $500,000 in qualifying equipment per
June 9, 2014Renu Zaretsky
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Can Filing Taxes Connect Low-Income Families to Bank Services and Save the Government Money?

Is there a way for low- and moderate-income households who do not have bank accounts to receive tax refunds electronically? A new Urban Institute study...
September 6, 2012Caroline RatcliffeSigne-Mary McKernan
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Five Challenges for the IRS’s New Capital Gains Reporting Rules

Sellers of stocks and other assets have always had to calculate their cost basis (generally, what they paid for the investment) in order to figure...
May 1, 2012Steven M. Rosenthal