Publications by Topic
Topic: Taxes, the Budget, and the Economy
The Opacity of Marginal Tax Rates (Article/Tax Facts)
Author(s):
Rosanne Altshuler , Jacob Goldin
Suppose that a taxpayer earns an additional dollar of
income. How much tax would she owe on that dollar? A
natural way to answer this question would be to look up
the taxpayer’s statutory tax rate - the tax rate corresponding
to her tax bracket and filing status.
Published: 10/21/09
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The Individual Alternative Minimum Tax: Historical Data and Projections, Updated October 2009 (Research Report)
Author(s):
Katherine Lim , Jeff Rohaly
The alternative minimum tax (AMT), which originally targeted high-income taxpayers, requires annual legislation to prevent it from affecting millions of middle-income individuals each year. There are two primary reasons for the AMT’s broadening impact; its parameters are not indexed for inflation and the 2001-2006 tax cuts reduced regular tax liability without changing AMT liability. In 2009, four million taxpayers will pay $33.5 billion in AMT, but without congressional action that number will rise to 27 million owing $102 billion in 2010. This paper describes the AMT and provides TPC’s latest estimates of AMT coverage, revenue, and distribution.
Published: 10/05/09
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Activist Fiscal Policy to Stabilize Economic Activity (Research Report)
Author(s):
Alan J. Auerbach , William G. Gale
Facing the most severe recession since the 1930s, and probably the longest as well, the
U.S. government has adopted an aggressive countercyclical fiscal policy stance, beginning with the “Economic Stimulus Act of 2008” in February of that year, shortly after the recession’s designated starting date, and followed one year later by the much larger “American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009.” These two bills, adopted under different presidents, both contained temporary tax rebates for households and temporary investment incentives for firms, indicating at least limited bipartisan acceptance of these approaches to countercyclical stimulus.
Published: 08/24/09
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Using Taxes to Reform Health Insurance (Book)
Author(s):
Henry J. Aaron , Leonard E. Burman
Few people realize that one of the nation’s largest health programs runs through the tax system. Reformers of all stripes propose to modify current tax rules as part of larger programs to increase coverage and control costs. Is the current system working? Will tax-based reforms achieve their goals? Several of the nation’s foremost experts on taxation and health policy address these questions in Using Taxes to Reform Health Insurance, a joint product of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the American Tax Policy Institute.
Published: 11/17/08
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Back from the Grave: Revenue and Distributional Effects of Reforming the Federal Estate Tax (Research Report)
Author(s):
Leonard E. Burman , Katherine Lim , Jeff Rohaly
In this paper we review the current wealth transfer tax rules and the changes introduced in 2001. We offer an overview of the methodology underlying the TPC's estate tax model and then use the model to estimate the number of estate tax filers, taxable returns, and the distribution of burden under current law. Finally, we investigate the revenue and distributional effects of several proposals to reform the estate tax, including those put forth by the presidential candidates.
Published: 10/20/08
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Sales Tax Holidays (Article/Tax Facts)
Author(s):
Carol Rosenberg , Kim Rueben
For the past 11 years, a growing number of states have held sales tax holidays, during which they exempt certain items from state - and often local - sales tax for a few days. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have scheduled 25 tax holidays in 2008, most of which occurred in August. Holidays most frequently exempt clothing and school supplies, but some exempt computers, energy-efficient appliances, or hurricane preparedness items..
Published: 10/16/08
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The Impact of the Presidential Candidates' Tax Proposals on Effective Marginal Tax Rates (Occasional Paper)
Author(s):
Katherine Lim , Jeff Rohaly
A taxpayer's effective marginal tax rate (EMTR) is the percentage of an additional dollar of income that would be paid in federal income tax. An individual's EMTR could affect the decision to work or save more, or avoid income tax. We use the TPC's microsimulation model of the federal tax system to calculate EMTRs under current law and under the presidential candidates' proposals. The Obama plan would lower EMTRs for the majority of households in 2009. Close to 80 percent of the population would see no change in their EMTR under Senator McCain's plan; most others would face lower rates.
Published: 09/30/08
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Sunday Forum: The Debt Bomb (Opinion)
Author(s):
Rudolph G. Penner
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette op-ed, September 28, 2008. The current financial crisis poses a severe threat to the economy, but it also creates a tremendous opportunity, writes Rudolph Penner in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It gives politicians cover for undertaking painful actions to get the long-run deficit under control-actions that should have been taken long ago.
Published: 09/28/08
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