TaxVox

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The voices of Tax Policy Center's researchers and staff

State and Local Issues

States Adopt Some Federal Tax Expenditures And Add Others

January 24, 2020 –
In fiscal year 2020, Georgia will spend nearly $500 million in film and television tax credits in return for the promise of new jobs and...
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Inequality Is A Big And Growing Issue, But A Wealth Tax May Not Be The Solution

January 23, 2020 –
Wealth inequality in the US is a problem. Wealth taxes may not be the solution...
Individual Taxes

Congress Could Improve Both the Tax Code And Health Coverage By Redesigning The Tax Subsidy For Employer-Sponsored Insurance

January 21, 2020 –
When Congress voted in December to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s “Cadillac tax” on high-cost employer-sponsored health insurance plans (ESI), it took health policy in...
State and Local Issues

Strengthening The Federal-State-Local Partnership In Recession And Recovery

January 17, 2020 –
On January 15, I testified before the House Budget Committee on how to strengthen the federal-state-local government partnership. I urged Congress to revise funding formulas...

State And Local Governments Have A Role To Play In Reducing The Wealth Gap

January 17, 2020 –
Every Democratic candidate for president has a plan to address growing inequality in America (on January 16, the Tax Policy Center sponsored a program on...

Would Wealth Taxes Solve Wealth Inequality?

January 15, 2020 –
Democracies become oligarchies when wealth is too concentrated. So begins a letter by Berkeley economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman about presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’...

Budget Blues For Tax Administration

January 13, 2020 –
The fiscal 2020 budget signed into law December 20 is a big disappointment for tax administration, continuing the over 20 percent inflation-adjusted decline in IRS...
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Repealing the ACA’s Excise Taxes Benefits Middle- and Upper-Middle Income Households More than Other Groups

January 10, 2020 –
In its end-of-2019 budget agreement, Congress repealed three sizeable excise taxes included in the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA): a tax on high-cost employer-provided health...

Could A Redesigned Tax Deduction Help More People Feel Good About Charitable Giving?

January 8, 2020 –
Tax incentives appear to encourage giving, but by discouraging taxpayers from itemizing deductions, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) left nearly 9 of every 10 households without that nudge. Policymakers could correct this by allowing people to deduct at least some of their charitable gifts of sufficient size, even if the taxpayer doesn’t itemize.
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Three Largely Ignored Tax Policy Issues When Taxing The Wealthy

January 8, 2020 –
The current debate over wealth taxes mostly focuses on whether the very rich are undertaxed, but gives little attention to the most efficient and fairest...