TaxVox: Individual Taxes

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The voices of Tax Policy Center's researchers and staff

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Obama: Big Win, Small Change

January 4, 2008 –
Barack Obama, with his big victory in the Iowa caucuses, has done a terrific job positioning himself as the Democrats' candidate of change. In his "closing argument" speech a few days before the voting, Obama repeated the word no fewer than 18 times.
Individual Taxes

Limiting the Damage from the 2008 AMT Train Wreck

January 2, 2008 –
As most TaxVox readers know, the political establishment waited until the last possible moment to pass the inevitable extension of the AMT "patch," sparing 20 million taxpayers from the dreaded alternative tax. Now the IRS says that lawmakers' procrastination will delay the start of the tax filing season by about a month—until mid-February—for taxpayers who claim certain tax credits that the AMT would have affected but for the twelfth-hour reprieve.
Individual Taxes

We Are All Keynesians Now (Heaven Help Us!)

December 31, 2007 –
A News Years Eve, 1965, Time magazine article quoted iconic free-market economist Milton Friedman as saying, "We are all Keynesians now." Friedman later explained that the quote was taken out of context. He meant that even though the language of John Maynard Keynes—famous for recommending fiscal policy as a tool to manage the economy—had pervaded popular consciousness, most people had no idea what this meant.
Federal Budget and Economy

Economic Stimulus: In Play for '08

December 27, 2007 –
The leaders of both the House and Senate are exploring options for an economic stimulus plan they would unveil if the economy continues to weaken in 2008, TaxVox has learned. The talks, still in their early stages, could trigger a major election-year battle over fiscal policy. While neither party has settled on a plan, congressional Republicans are likely to propose new tax breaks as well an extension of the 2001 Bush tax cuts. Democrats are looking at a mix of tax cuts and other measures that they'd attach to targeted relief for those hardest hit by the mortgage mess.
Individual Taxes

TaxVox's First Annual Lump of Coal Awards

December 24, 2007 –
Congress and the President have finally left town. But they left quite a legacy. Here are our nominees for the five biggest fiscal losers of 2007. The AMT Patch: Sure, Congress finally agreed to keep 20 million middle-class families off the AMT for one more year. But it never paid for the $50 billion temporary fix and ignored proposals to permanently resolve the mess. Just wait until next year, when they do it all again.
Federal Budget and Economy

Terrorism Insurance: Another Subsidy That Will Not Die

December 20, 2007 –
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, Congress created a program in which taxpayers would backstop private insurance in the event of another major terror attack. The program, called the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), was supposed to be a temporary effort to both stabilize the insurance industry and prevent a broader economic meltdown after insurers stopped writing property and casualty coverage for many urban commercial developments.
Individual Taxes

Fed to Banks: Lend Only to Those Who Can Repay

December 18, 2007 –
"Creditors would be prohibited from … extending credit without considering borrowers' ability to repay the loan." This is not a joke. It is part of proposed new Federal Reserve Board regulations aimed at stopping banks from repeating the shockingly bad lending practices that led to the still-worsening mortgage mess. Perhaps they could call the new rule "stop me before I lend again."
Individual Taxes

The Energy Bill Give-Away

December 14, 2007 –
When the Senate passed a long-awaited energy bill yesterday, I flashed back to a fascinating off-the-record chat I had back in 2004 with a top executive of a major oil company. He was in Washington to help make sure that the energy bidness got its piece of an especially hideous tax break called the Sec. 199 production deduction.
Individual Taxes

Bipartisan Blame

December 12, 2007 –
A December 10 Wall Street Journal rant against PAYGO asserts that the AMT is careening out of control because "Democrats who designed it failed to index it for inflation and raised AMT rates under Bill Clinton in 1993." To be sure, indexing the AMT exemption would have kept millions of taxpayers out of its clutches but blame for that oversight lies with many Congresses and administrations. Never in the tax's 40-year existence has either Congress or the president seriously tried to permanently index the AMT. And the decision in 2001 to cut regular income taxes without also reducing the AMT has played a huge role in AMT's growth.
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Huckabee's Retail Sales Tax: It Doesn't Add Up

December 10, 2007 –
Mike Huckabee wants to replace the entire federal tax system with a national retail sales tax of 23 percent. Trouble is, he can't do it and maintain anything like the government that Americans have come to expect.