tax reform

: TaxVox

Cheap Talk, Scoring, and Promises

Congress is in recess through the mid-term elections. The Daily Deduction will post each Monday until then. Counting devices before they hatch? Should the GOP take the Senate in November , medical device makers may see a renewed push to repeal the 2.3 percent excise tax on their products. The tax

October 13, 2014Renu Zaretsky

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Ryan and Lew Both Object to JCT Scoring of Future Tax Reform

Like a couple of baseball managers working the umpires before a big World Series game, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), who wants to be the next chair of the House Ways & Means Committee, are looking to change the way Congress scores tax reform even before

October 9, 2014Howard Gleckman

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

How Asset Building Tax Subsidies Miss Their Targets

Nearly one-third of all federal tax expenditures--$384 billion in 2013 alone-- is aimed at various forms of asset building, such as retirement savings, higher education, and home ownership. Yet, according to research by several of my Tax Policy Center and Urban Institute colleagues, these tax

October 7, 2014Howard Gleckman

: TaxVox

Pressure, Power, and a New View on Cuts

Congress is in recess through the mid-term elections. Read the Daily Deduction each Monday until then. Apple’s new products might not bend , but its tax deals are under some pressure. Later today, the European Union’s European Commission is expected to release its opening decision on Apple’s 1991

September 29, 2014Renu Zaretsky

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Don’t Count on Much Economic Growth From Individual Tax Reform…Or From Tax Rate Cuts

Can individual income tax reform that cuts rates and eliminates subsidies increase economic growth? How about tax cuts by themselves? The answer is: Maybe, but not by much, according to a new paper by the Tax Policy Center’s Bill Gale and Andrew Samwick, director of The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center

September 10, 2014Howard Gleckman

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

How Much Would An Individual Tax Rate Cut Add to the Deficit, and Who Would Benefit?

Reducing tax rates is a guiding principal of most tax reform plans. Even Democrats who see reform partly as a tool to boost revenues agree that some money generated by eliminating tax preferences ought to go to rate reduction. But how much does Treasury lose when Congress reduces individual tax

August 21, 2014Howard Gleckman

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Can Obama slow corporate inversions? Yes he can.

Politicians can debate whether corporate tax inversions are “unpatriotic” or simply a legitimate technique to reduce taxes--and commentators can argue over whether anything should be done to stop them. Experts also disagree about whether President Obama and his Treasury Secretary have the legal

August 15, 2014Steven M. Rosenthal

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Abuse of financial products by hedge funds

Today, I testified before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (the “Subcommittee”) on the abuse of structured financial products by hedge funds, in particular by the Renaissance funds. This is what I told the Subcommittee: Almost a century ago, Congress reduced the tax rate for

July 22, 2014Steven M. Rosenthal

: TaxVox

Pensions and Tax Bases: Realities and Hopes

The thing about pension smoothing: The bumps always come back. Neither the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget nor TPC’s Len Burman will suspend disbelief when it comes to the latest gimmick to patch the Highway Trust Fund. Maybe “stupid tax tricks” work politically but “pretending to raise

July 10, 2014Renu Zaretsky

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

New TPC Analysis: What Dave Camp's Tax Reform Plan Would Really Mean

In an extensive new analysis of House Ways & Means Committee Chair Dave Camp’s tax reform plan, my Tax Policy Center colleagues confirm his proposal would raise about the same amount of money over 10 years as current law and impose roughly the same tax burden across income groups as today's

July 8, 2014Howard Gleckman