Janet Holtzblatt, senior fellow in the Tax Policy Center, testified before the Select Revenue Measures and Oversight subcommittees of House Ways and Means at a hearing on the tax gap and improving tax administration. The testimony focused on four key areas: the impact of reductions in the IRS’s...
Elaine Maag, Principal Research Associate in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, testified before the Council of the District of Columbia’s Committee on Business and Economic Development. The hearing included a discussion on the “Child Wealth Building Act of 2021” (B24-236) and tax policy...
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 increased the federal earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit (CTC). In turn, 28 states and the District of Columbia will see increases in their state EITCs because of existing linkages between federal and state tax codes. We estimate that...
Over the period between 2013 and 2029, the sum of the estimated budgetary costs of all tax expenditures as a percentage of gross domestic product will range from approximately 8.5 percent in fiscal year 2017 to 6 percent in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA)...
This chartbook compares the breadth of general sales and excise tax bases across the states. It categorizes detailed personal consumption expenditures (as measured in the Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Products Accounts) by their tax treatment in each state and the District of...
Four major policies in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) will reduce the number of people in poverty in 2021 from 44 million to 28 million – shrinking the overall poverty rate from 13.7 percent to 8.7 percent. Additional $1,400 payments could further reduce poverty to between 6.4 and 6.6 percent,...
States reported robust revenue growth in the third quarter of 2020, a reversal of steep declines in the second quarter that mostly reflects shifting income tax filing deadlines. Over a six-month period (April through September 2020), state revenues declined 2.0...
Because of the small share of the population currently eligible for itemized tax deductions for charitable giving, many charities have argued that a more universal charitable deduction or tax credit should exist. A more universal subsidy could (but would not necessarily) increase significantly...
The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing recession, as well as racial injustices and protest responses throughout 2020, have highlighted that public policies can have very different impacts on populations by race or ethnicity. Tax policies, in particular, are commonly perceived as “race neutral,”...
Postsecondary education can be a critical step toward financial independence. Total college costs in California may present an extraordinary financial burden. For students with incomes under $30,000 in California, the cost of attendance at public universities (after accounting for existing grant...
The Effect of Tax Enforcement on Revenues
Janet Holtzblatt, senior fellow in the Tax Policy Center, testified before the Select Revenue Measures and Oversight subcommittees of House Ways and Means at a hearing on the tax gap and improving tax administration. The testimony focused on four key areas: the impact of reductions in the IRS’s...
Using Basic Income to Meet the Needs of DC Communities
Elaine Maag, Principal Research Associate in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, testified before the Council of the District of Columbia’s Committee on Business and Economic Development. The hearing included a discussion on the “Child Wealth Building Act of 2021” (B24-236) and tax policy...
How Increasing the Federal EITC and CTC Could Affect State Taxes
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 increased the federal earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit (CTC). In turn, 28 states and the District of Columbia will see increases in their state EITCs because of existing linkages between federal and state tax codes. We estimate that...
Trends in Tax Expenditures: An Update
Over the period between 2013 and 2029, the sum of the estimated budgetary costs of all tax expenditures as a percentage of gross domestic product will range from approximately 8.5 percent in fiscal year 2017 to 6 percent in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA)...
How Broad Are State Sales Tax Bases?
This chartbook compares the breadth of general sales and excise tax bases across the states. It categorizes detailed personal consumption expenditures (as measured in the Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Products Accounts) by their tax treatment in each state and the District of...
How Additional Cash Payments Would Reduce Poverty
Four major policies in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) will reduce the number of people in poverty in 2021 from 44 million to 28 million – shrinking the overall poverty rate from 13.7 percent to 8.7 percent. Additional $1,400 payments could further reduce poverty to between 6.4 and 6.6 percent,...
State Tax and Economic Review, 2020 Quarter 3
States reported robust revenue growth in the third quarter of 2020, a reversal of steep declines in the second quarter that mostly reflects shifting income tax filing deadlines. Over a six-month period (April through September 2020), state revenues declined 2.0...
Designing an Effective and More Universal Charitable Deduction
Because of the small share of the population currently eligible for itemized tax deductions for charitable giving, many charities have argued that a more universal charitable deduction or tax credit should exist. A more universal subsidy could (but would not necessarily) increase significantly...
State and Local Government Revenues and Racial Disparities
The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing recession, as well as racial injustices and protest responses throughout 2020, have highlighted that public policies can have very different impacts on populations by race or ethnicity. Tax policies, in particular, are commonly perceived as “race neutral,”...
Extending the California Earned Income Tax Credit to Postsecondary Students
Postsecondary education can be a critical step toward financial independence. Total college costs in California may present an extraordinary financial burden. For students with incomes under $30,000 in California, the cost of attendance at public universities (after accounting for existing grant...