There is widespread agreement that the college financial aid system is too complicated and acts as a barrier to higher education. This report focusses on how eight different simplification proposals for determining Pell grant eligibility and three alternatives for calculating Effective Family...
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 earned income tax credit (EITC) is the most effective antipoverty program targeted to working-age households, delivering $60 annually. Critics note a relatively high error rate – with errors often stemming from complicated rules about who counts as a “qualifying child”. We analyze data from...
How big is your retirement package? Benefits from government retirement programs—Social Security and Medicare—vary over time, but the trend has been toward higher lifetime benefits for each successive cohort. Expansion derives mainly from increases in real annual benefits, more years of benefits...
Tax and transfer programs can create significant bonuses and penalties for low- and moderate-income cohabiters with children. We find that federal tax laws can create marriage penalties that reach almost 10 percent of earnings for our hypothetical couples earning $40,000 or $50,000 a year. In...
Using the latest long-term budget projections from the Congressional Budget Office, we project that individual income tax revenues under current law will increase as a share of GDP from a little over 9.5 percent in 2025 to a little less than 13.3 percent in 2090, an increase of over 3.7...
Federal and state income taxes play an important role in providing income support for low-income households by administering refundable tax credits, such as the earned income tax credit (EITC). Using the Urban Institute’s Net Income Change Calculator (NICC), which provides state- and 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...
The Bipartisan Policy Center asked TPC to estimate a proposal to replace the excise tax on high-cost health insurance plans with a limit on the exclusion for employer-provided health benefits and repeal of medical flexible spending accounts. TPC estimates the BPC proposal would increase revenues...
Simplifying Federal Student Aid: How Do the Plans Stack Up?
There is widespread agreement that the college financial aid system is too complicated and acts as a barrier to higher education. This report focusses on how eight different simplification proposals for determining Pell grant eligibility and three alternatives for calculating Effective Family...
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...
Using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Data in Earned Income Tax Credit Administration
The earned income tax credit (EITC) is the most effective antipoverty program targeted to working-age households, delivering $60 annually. Critics note a relatively high error rate – with errors often stemming from complicated rules about who counts as a “qualifying child”. We analyze data from...
Social Security and Medicare Lifetime Benefits and Taxes
How big is your retirement package? Benefits from government retirement programs—Social Security and Medicare—vary over time, but the trend has been toward higher lifetime benefits for each successive cohort. Expansion derives mainly from increases in real annual benefits, more years of benefits...
The Financial Consequences of Marriage for Cohabiting Couples with Children
Tax and transfer programs can create significant bonuses and penalties for low- and moderate-income cohabiters with children. We find that federal tax laws can create marriage penalties that reach almost 10 percent of earnings for our hypothetical couples earning $40,000 or $50,000 a year. In...
Why Individual Income Tax Revenues Grow Faster Than GDP
Using the latest long-term budget projections from the Congressional Budget Office, we project that individual income tax revenues under current law will increase as a share of GDP from a little over 9.5 percent in 2025 to a little less than 13.3 percent in 2090, an increase of over 3.7...
Federal and State Income Taxes and Their Role in the Social Safety Net
Federal and state income taxes play an important role in providing income support for low-income households by administering refundable tax credits, such as the earned income tax credit (EITC). Using the Urban Institute’s Net Income Change Calculator (NICC), which provides state- and 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...
Analysis of Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) Cadillac Tax Replacement Option
The Bipartisan Policy Center asked TPC to estimate a proposal to replace the excise tax on high-cost health insurance plans with a limit on the exclusion for employer-provided health benefits and repeal of medical flexible spending accounts. TPC estimates the BPC proposal would increase revenues...