How a new tax benefit would help family caregivers. The Economic Security Project (ESP) has proposed making family caregivers eligible for its cost-of-living refund, an expanded earned income tax credit (EITC). TPC estimates that about 2.6 million families with few or no earnings from paid employment could claim the caregiving benefit in 2020, worth about $180 billion over 10 years. The benefits would be highly concentrated among low-income families.
Conference on Taxes and the Future of Philanthropy: Tuesday, February 18. TPC and the American Tax Policy Institute are convening experts who will discuss how charitable giving has changed, how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has affected non-profits, how the IRS regulates philanthropies, and what policies would more efficiently and fairly encourage charitable giving Chronicle of Philanthropy editor Stacy Palmer will deliver the keynotes address. Register to attend here, the event will be webcast live here.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown proposes a new tax to fund affordable housing. She wants voters to approve an amendment to the state constitution to allow real estate transfer taxes. Voters nixed the idea after the 2008 housing market crash. The amendment does not propose a tax rate or revenue goal but would exempt the first $500,000 of a property’s value from taxation. Revenues would support affordable housing.
New Mexico lawmaker wants to reward new residents with a tax credit. Move to the state and get a tax credit? Republican state Sen. James White’s bill would give a modest credit to new residents who moved to New Mexico in 2019, if they make less than $100,000. For example, Singles earning less than $50,000 would get $50. Married couples filing jointly who make $50,000 would get $100. White says that since New Mexico has the extra cash on hand, new residents should get some of it.
Options for post-TCJA international tax reform. A new brief by Kimberly Clausing for the Center for American Progress reports that the TCJA’s corporate rate cut reduced US corporate tax revenues to 1 percent of gross domestic product, well below the 3 percent of GDP raised by peer nations. Clausing proposes several international corporate tax reforms, and provides a range of revenue estimates for the changes.
OECD: Global digital tax negotiations will continue. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released a statement Friday committing to reach an “agreement on a consensus-based solution by the end of 2020” among 137 countries and jurisdictions. The US continues to prefer an “opt-in” digital tax but the OECD said other member countries believe this model “could raise major difficulties, increase uncertainty and fail to meet all of the policy objectives of the overall process.”
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