As Budget Talks Start, Beware the Bogus Revenue Hikes
As House and Senate budget negotiators sit down (eight months late), the inevitable issue of new revenues has already raised its head. Predictably, Democrats insist that any fiscal deal include new...
View ArticleTheTaxVox 2013 Lump of Coal Award: Wait ‘Til Next Year Edition
Tax Vox proudly announces its seventh annual Lump of Coal Award for the worst tax and fiscal policies of 2013. The year was a curious mix of really bad ideas and dithering. After all, Congress’s finest...
View ArticleTax Policy is MIA in the State of the Union
When it comes to tax policy, President Obama’s State of the Union address last night was a model of modesty. There was little new. And, while it is always hard to tell what really matters in a speech...
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Individual Income Taxes May Soon Generate Half of All Federal Tax Revenue
Over the next decade, the individual income tax will be the fastest growing source of federal revenue, according to new estimates by the Congressional Budget Office. In fact, the individual income tax...
View ArticleIncoming Senate Finance Chair Wyden Outlines His Tax Agenda
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), about to become the new chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Friday that he aims to eventually rewrite what he described as a “dysfunctional, rotting mess of a...
View ArticleDave Camp’s Tax Plan: A Brave Start But Lots of Gimmicks
Give House Ways & Means Committee Chair Dave Camp (R-MI) all the credit in the world for years of hard work developing his tax reform plan. Just don’t look too hard at the blueprint, which he...
View ArticleShould Tax Reform Be Sold on Values Instead of Economics?
Maybe the best way for tax reformers to get political traction is to focus on values, not economics. That, at least, was one take-away from three political scientists who spoke at a Tax Policy Center...
View ArticleShould Congress Curb Donor Advised Funds?
Buried deep in House Ways & Means Committee Chair Dave Camp’s tax reform plan is a proposal to require donor-advised funds to distribute contributions within five years. The proposal would be a...
View ArticleAre Domestic Partnerships A Way For Heterosexual Couples To Avoid The...
In their zeal to provide a legal alternative to banned marriage for same-sex couples, some states may have created a new tax shelter for heterosexual couples. By choosing domestic partnership or civil...
View ArticleNew 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...
View ArticleThe Small, Happy World of Supersized IRAs
When Mitt Romney released his tax return information during the 2012 presidential campaign, many of us were introduced to the world of supersized IRAs. Romney somehow had a tax-preferred retirement...
View ArticleNine Tax Stories to Watch in 2015
So much has changed. Yet, when it comes to taxes, so much has not. Republicans have taken control of Congress and now hold governorships in 31 states. The U.S. economy is finally on solid ground. And...
View ArticlePresident Obama’s Middle-Class Tax Message in the State of the Union
President Obama’s tax proposals for the middle class were a key element of his State of the Union address. But they represent only relatively modest efforts to create subsidies through the tax code...
View ArticleThe Affordable Care Act Tax Filing Season: A View From the Trenches
Several of us at the Tax Policy Center volunteer with Community Tax Aid to help low-income people file their taxes. We’ve had a chance to see, first-hand, how the Affordable Care Act is affecting tax...
View ArticleIs a Consumption Tax Talk Making a Comeback?
Maybe it’s just because Congress is on spring break and tax wonks don’t have much to talk about, but suddenly the idea of a consumption tax is getting a new look. The tax plan proposed earlier this...
View ArticleBusting Myths for Tax Day
Since Tax Day is tomorrow, it seems like a good time to bust a few myths about taxes. Here are five of the biggest misperceptions about the federal revenue code. Most of the info comes from two...
View ArticleThe Scary New World of Tax Fraud
Back in the day—say 2011--tax fraud was pretty straightforward. Taxpayers deliberately understated income or overstated deductions to cheat the system for their own benefit. Not anymore. Now, a growing...
View ArticleMarco Rubio Wasn't the Only One Who Cashed Out an IRA Last Year
It is easy to mock Senator Marco Rubio, who cashed out $68,241 in IRA retirement funds last September. The GOP presidential hopeful, who made about $230,000 last year, told Fox News he needed the dough...
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Tax Hound: Collection Page
Tax policy isn't just for economists, lawyers, or policymakers. Taxes affect us all and The Tax Hound engages the rest of us in interesting conversations about what government taxes, and why. On the...
View ArticleHow to Pay Zero Taxes on Income of Millions of Dollars
Remember when people complained that hedge fund managers and private equity firm owners paid a lower tax rate than many workers? Or when Warren Buffett said he shouldn’t pay a lower rate than his...
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