This report provides an overview of interactions between the federal individual income tax system and racial and ethnic disparities in the United States. The tax code may appear to be “race blind” because the Internal Revenue Service does not ask tax filers to report their race or ethnicity. But...
A legacy of racial discrimination—in the housing market and mortgage lending industry, among other sectors—has led to lower rates of homeownership among Black and Hispanic families than among White families. One consequence of the lower homeownership rates is that Black and Hispanic families do...
Although the US tax code does not explicitly reference race or ethnicity, the federal individual income tax can create racial disparities when factors that affect tax liability are associated with race. This paper provides new evidence on racial differences in marriage tax penalties and bonuses...
Although the US tax code does not explicitly reference race or ethnicity, the federal individual income tax can create racial disparities when factors that affect tax liability are associated with race. This paper provides new evidence on racial differences in marriage tax penalties and bonuses...
Although the US tax code does not explicitly reference race or ethnicity, the federal income tax system contributes to racial disparities when factors that affect tax liabilities are correlated with race. This study is the first to use the Tax Policy Center’s microsimulation model—newly enhanced...
Although it is generally blind with respect to race, the tax code can create racial disparities when factors that affect tax liability are correlated with race. In this working paper, we provide new evidence on racial differences in marriage penalties and bonuses in the income tax, using data...
Each year, the Internal Revenue Services receives over 3 billion information returns, such as W-2s and 1099-INTs, from employers, banks, and other entities. The IRS also collects some data about taxpayers from other government agencies and the private sector. But given budget cuts and data...
The “tax gap”—the difference between the amount of taxes owed and the amount of tax actually paid—includes substantial gray areas where the law is ambiguous and the IRS’s determination of taxes owed is debatable. Understanding the tax gap’s shades of gray can inform discussions of tax law and...
The “tax gap”—the difference between the amount of taxes owed and the amount of tax actually paid—includes substantial gray areas where the law is ambiguous and the IRS’s determination of taxes owed is debatable. Understanding the tax gap’s shades of gray can inform discussions of tax law and...
The Internal Revenue Code generally does not refer to race or ethnicity, but federal income taxes may contribute to racial disparities when factors that affect...
What policymakers give, policymakers can take away. Nine months after Congress enacted President Biden’s proposal to boost the Internal Revenue Service’s 10-year budget by $80...
The veil has lifted (at least partway) on the administration’s two-year-old pledge that the IRS would not use its $80 billion budget boost to increase...
Most years, the Tax Policy Center celebrates Valentine Day with a whimsical analysis of the costs and benefits—tax-wise—of marriage. What’s new this year is that...
How will we know whether the Inflation Reduction Act’s $80 billion ten-year investment in the Internal Revenue Service is successful? Unfortunately, measuring performance isn’t easy,...
Understanding how the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will affect the Internal Revenue Service’s operations requires wading through a swamp of misinformation, disinformation, and no information...
With the near-certain enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Internal Revenue Service is on track for an $80 billion boost to its ten-year budget...
When it comes to tax enforcement, I used to believe the Internal Revenue Service could never have too much information. But the agency already collects...
The Internal Revenue Service has limped through yet another tax filing season, reduced to plugging staffing holes in customer service and returns processing by shifting...
The “tax gap”—the difference between taxes owed to the government and taxes actually collected—often is equated with evasion . But the tax gap is more...
Congress is moving toward rectifying the decade-long funding crisis at the IRS . The House is on track to adopt President Biden’s proposed $1.6 billion...
By including in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) a provision to exempt up to $10,200 of last year’s unemployment benefits from federal income tax, Congress...
A few years ago, Ta-Nehesi Coates wrote a powerful essay, “The Case for Reparations” for The Atlantic . Reparations, he affirmed, would help close the...
Was it really last May that the House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, which would have authorized...
