TaxVox: Individual Taxes

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The voices of Tax Policy Center's researchers and staff

Individual Taxes

Raising Taxes on the Rich

April 12, 2012 –
This afternoon, I moderated an interesting Tax Policy Center panel on taxing the rich. With the Senate about to debate a Buffett tax on millionaires,...
Federal Budget and Economy

Will the 2010 Health Law Cut the Deficit or Add to It?

April 10, 2012 –
In a new study , Chuck Blahous, who is a public trustee for Medicare and Social Security, concludes that the 2010 health law will add...
Individual Taxes

How Big Are Tax Preferences?

April 9, 2012 –
The tax code is chock full of credits, deductions, deferrals, exclusions, exemptions, and preferential rates. Taken together, such tax preferences will total almost $1.3 trillion...
Individual Taxes

Taxing Amazon: Good for Virginia and Good for Me

April 3, 2012 –
I’ve finally finished my income tax returns for 2011. The last task—and least pleasant—is figuring my Virginia use tax . That’s the sales tax I...
Individual Taxes

There is No Health Care Tax on Most Home Sales. Really.

April 2, 2012 –
It is the unfounded rumor that never dies: You will have to pay a 3.8 percent federal health care tax on the sale of your...
Individual Taxes

Taxes, Health Reform, and the Supreme Court

March 29, 2012 –
There is more to the Affordable Care Act than the individual mandate. There are also, for example, taxes. And since this is TaxVox, I thought...
Federal Budget and Economy

The Federal Government Spends Lots More than You Think

March 26, 2012 –
When we talk about the federal budget, we usually rely on the government’s official definition of “spending” which is to say the amount of money...
Individual Taxes

No Obvious Relationship between Capital Gains Tax Rates and Economic Growth

March 19, 2012 –
If you read the editorial page of financial newspapers, you might conclude that no aspect of tax policy is more important for economic growth than...
Federal Budget and Economy

Time to End Washington’s Trust Fund Gimmicks

March 16, 2012 –
Why do we bother with government trust funds? As the Senate’s just-passed highway bill proved yet again, Congress is turning these funds into little more...
Individual Taxes

The Buffett Rule Can’t Pay for AMT Repeal

March 15, 2012 –
Congress originally enacted the alternative minimum tax (AMT) to make sure that high-income folks would pay at least a minimum amount of income tax. Sound...