TaxVox

The voices of Tax Policy Center's researchers and staff

Individual Taxes

Obama Giveth and the AMT Taketh Away

June 1, 2009 –
After I wrote about how Obama’s tax proposals would cut taxes for many wealthy households, some readers objected that I’d ignored the fact that the alternative minimum tax (AMT) would wipe out any potential tax savings. I had commented that the AMT could, in fact, do just that, but TPC had not yet estimated how many taxpayers would be affected. Research assistant Katie Lim has now generated those estimates and they show, as expected, that the AMT would take the potential tax cut away from many people.
Individual Taxes

The Garrett Nomination and Pseudo-Ethics

May 29, 2009 –
Beth Garrett, President Obama’s choice to be Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy, has withdrawn her name from consideration. Beth didn’t say why, except for the usual boilerplate about her “personal family situation.” However, the Bloomberg story on her announcement quotes a friend, lobbyist Jeff Trinca, as saying she pulled out because she was unwilling to put her family through what has become a “harsh” confirmation process.
Individual Taxes

What a Choice: Raise Taxes for the Poor or Bust the Budget

May 29, 2009 –
As promised, TPC has crunched some numbers for the health reform plan introduced by congressional Republicans last week. They are pretty ugly, and an indication of just how hard it is to confront the taxation of medical care. The Patient’s Choice Act, sponsored by Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) and others, takes some remarkable steps toward bipartisanship by embracing regional purchasing pools. It also includes some very Republican ideas, such as giving low-income families $5,000 to buy their way out of Medicaid.
Individual Taxes

The Benefits of Opacity

May 28, 2009 –
A basic tenet of public finance holds that people tend to do less of something when it is taxed. Raise income tax rates and some people will work less. Boost the gas tax and people will drive less. Hike the cigarette tax and people will smoke less. That inexorable law of demand poses two problems for the taxman. First, taxes distort behavior as people move from taxed activities to those that are taxed less or not at all. Sometimes, as in the case of cigarette taxes, we want to discourage the taxed activity. In other cases, the tax only makes the economy less efficient. Second, tax avoidance may reduce the revenue gained from a tax increase—or even negate it entirely. For example, if gasoline sales plummet when gas taxes rise, we get less revenue to build and maintain roads.
Individual Taxes

"Caring for Our Parents": My New Book on Long-Term Care

May 27, 2009 –
I am not just a tax wonk. For the past couple of years, when I wasn’t blogging on TaxVox, I was writing a book on long-term care. Caring for Our Parents critiques what is a completely irrational system for delivering and paying for these services. I had the great fortune of being able to tell this story through the eyes of both those who are receiving assistance and their families. About 10 million Americans need this care, and as many as 40 million of us help family members and friends—either the frail elderly or those with disabilities. Long-term care is hugely expensive. On average, a year in a nursing home costs $75,000 and home health aides cost $19 per hour. In 2007, we spent $230 billion on paid assistance. But that pales in comparison with the economic value of informal care provided by family members, which AARP estimates at $375 billion.
Individual Taxes

The $250,000 Question

May 26, 2009 –
During the 2008 presidential campaign, much was made of candidate Obama’s proposal to boost taxes on “high-income” taxpayers. Campaign attack ads warned those folks—couples with income over $250,000 and others with income over $200,000—that a big tax increase was on the way. Joe the Plumber complained that the tax increases would stifle his unborn entrepreneurial dreams.
Individual Taxes

GOP Health Reform: Surprise, A Big Tax Cut

May 21, 2009 –
Yesterday, conservative Republicans rolled out their health reform plan. The Patient’s Choice Act is an interesting mix of Massachusetts-like exchanges and other reforms intended to boost the individual insurance market. But, no surprise, its centerpiece is a giant tax cut.
Individual Taxes

Stop Picking on California

May 20, 2009 –
To no one’s surprise, California voters yesterday rejected 5 of 6 ballot measures intended to address the state’s budget problem. The propositions would have addressed the problem as it existed in February, not now. The state then faced a $40 billion gap between revenues and expenditures over 18 months. Lawmakers managed to close the gap after a marathon emergency session. However, thanks to California’s labyrinthine budget rules, about $6 billion of these solutions required voter approval. Hence, the state’s third special election in six years.
Individual Taxes

Cap the Exclusion on Employer Insurance. But How?

May 19, 2009 –
Describing his financing options for health reform yesterday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) delivered two messages: A) Eliminating the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health care is off the table and B) He would still like to find a way to curb this hugely expensive and inefficient subsidy. Baucus' bipartisan alternatives for limiting the exclusion cover the proverbial waterfront. Congress could cap the subsidy based on the value of the insurance plan, the income of the policyholder, or both. It could index the cap based on health care inflation, the consumer price index, or growth in GDP. It could “grandfather” existing union-negotiated plans, or not. What Baucus seems to be saying is: I’ll do whatever it takes to reduce the value of the exclusion, even if it is only a small step toward eventual repeal.
Federal Budget and Economy

Budgeting by Special Election

May 18, 2009 –
Californians vote tomorrow on six ballot measures addressing their state's perennial budget problems. If nothing passes, California will face a $20 billion budget shortfall. If everything passes, the deficit drops to—drum roll, please—$15 billion. Big numbers but not unusual for the Golden State. The bigger issue is whether California, or any other state, should budget by initiative.