After worsening sharply during the Great Recession, the long-term fiscal outlook generally improved through 2015, due to a combination of legislative acts and lower projected growth of health care spending. The same factors and the slow but steady economic recovery helped reduce short-term...
This paper analyzes presidential candidate Jeb Bush’s tax proposal. It would reduce individual and business marginal tax rates, curtail tax expenditures, and convert the corporate income tax into a cash-flow consumption tax. The proposal would cut taxes at all income levels, reducing federal...
Looking specifically at taxes, Brookings Senior Fellow William Gale and Research Assistant Aaron Krupkin write that the U.S. does not have a good tax system that raises the revenues needed “to finance government spending in a manner that is as simple, equitable, and growth-friendly as possible...
In this testimony before the US House of Representatives Committee on the Budget, Institute fellow Rudy Penner discussed the problems that could arise from biennial budgeting, including needing to rely more heavily on forecasts which may contain errors, fewer opportunities for oversight, and...
Opposition to the ACA’s “Cadillac” tax is growing. This excise tax applies to employer health benefits exceeding a threshold. There has been broader support over time for a cap on the tax exclusion of employer contributions to health insurance, including from many who now want to repeal the...
Opposition to the ACA’s “Cadillac” tax is growing. This excise tax applies to employer health benefits exceeding a threshold. There has been broader support over time for a cap on the tax exclusion of employer contributions to health insurance, including from many who now want to repeal the...
The federal tax system imposes a number of excise taxes on goods and services such as gasoline, alcohol, tobacco, air travel, and health care. In fiscal year 2014, the federal government raised $93.4 billion or 0.5 percent of GDP from excise taxes, accounting for about 3 percent of total federal...
TPC has estimated the distributional impact of repealing the Affordable Care Act’s “Cadillac tax” in 2018 and 2025. While the average tax cut increases with income throughout the distribution, the middle and fourth income quintiles receive the largest share of the tax benefit compared with their...
In response to the financial market crisis and Great Recession, there has been a resurgence of interest in financial transaction taxes (FTTs) around the world. We estimate that a well-designed FTT could raise about $50 billion per year in the United States and would be quite progressive. We...
The case for a carbon tax is strong. A well-designed tax could efficiently reduce the emissions that cause climate change and encourage innovation in cleaner technologies. The resulting revenue could finance tax reductions, spending priorities, or deficit reduction—policies that could offset the...
Once More Unto the Breach
After worsening sharply during the Great Recession, the long-term fiscal outlook generally improved through 2015, due to a combination of legislative acts and lower projected growth of health care spending. The same factors and the slow but steady economic recovery helped reduce short-term...
An Analysis of Governor Bush's Tax Plan
This paper analyzes presidential candidate Jeb Bush’s tax proposal. It would reduce individual and business marginal tax rates, curtail tax expenditures, and convert the corporate income tax into a cash-flow consumption tax. The proposal would cut taxes at all income levels, reducing federal...
Major Tax Issues in 2016
Looking specifically at taxes, Brookings Senior Fellow William Gale and Research Assistant Aaron Krupkin write that the U.S. does not have a good tax system that raises the revenues needed “to finance government spending in a manner that is as simple, equitable, and growth-friendly as possible...
Biennial Budgeting
In this testimony before the US House of Representatives Committee on the Budget, Institute fellow Rudy Penner discussed the problems that could arise from biennial budgeting, including needing to rely more heavily on forecasts which may contain errors, fewer opportunities for oversight, and...
The ACA's "Cadillac" Tax Versus a Cap on the Tax Exclusion of Employer-Based Health Benefits: Is This a Battle Worth Fighting?
Opposition to the ACA’s “Cadillac” tax is growing. This excise tax applies to employer health benefits exceeding a threshold. There has been broader support over time for a cap on the tax exclusion of employer contributions to health insurance, including from many who now want to repeal the...
The ACA's "Cadillac" Tax Versus a Cap on the Tax Exclusion of Employer-Based Health Benefits: Is This a Battle Worth Fighting?
Opposition to the ACA’s “Cadillac” tax is growing. This excise tax applies to employer health benefits exceeding a threshold. There has been broader support over time for a cap on the tax exclusion of employer contributions to health insurance, including from many who now want to repeal the...
The Distributional Burden of Federal Excise Taxes
The federal tax system imposes a number of excise taxes on goods and services such as gasoline, alcohol, tobacco, air travel, and health care. In fiscal year 2014, the federal government raised $93.4 billion or 0.5 percent of GDP from excise taxes, accounting for about 3 percent of total federal...
Distributional Impact of Repealing the Excise Tax on High Cost Health Plans
TPC has estimated the distributional impact of repealing the Affordable Care Act’s “Cadillac tax” in 2018 and 2025. While the average tax cut increases with income throughout the distribution, the middle and fourth income quintiles receive the largest share of the tax benefit compared with their...
Financial Transaction Taxes in Theory and Practice
In response to the financial market crisis and Great Recession, there has been a resurgence of interest in financial transaction taxes (FTTs) around the world. We estimate that a well-designed FTT could raise about $50 billion per year in the United States and would be quite progressive. We...
Taxing Carbon: What, Why, and How
The case for a carbon tax is strong. A well-designed tax could efficiently reduce the emissions that cause climate change and encourage innovation in cleaner technologies. The resulting revenue could finance tax reductions, spending priorities, or deficit reduction—policies that could offset the...