Tax Policy Center

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman reports that nearly 15,000 taxpayers turned themselves in under the service’s amnesty program for people who had failed to report overseas bank accounts on their federal income tax returns. ...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has pulled together a health bill that relies on three major revenue sources (and many smaller ones) to help support the cost of new insurance subsidies for those with low- and moderate-incomes. ...

Increasingly generous tax subsidies for homeowners are doing little to help the housing market. The U.S. ...

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reports that more than 15 million people could owe more income tax than usual next April, thanks to the 2009 stimulus act’s Making Work Pay credit (MWP). ...

In the ongoing search for money to pay for health reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) reportedly wants to raise the Medicare payroll tax rate for high earners. It is not the best way to generate revenue, but it is not the worst either ...

Last week in my Public Financial Management class, I was explaining the time value of money and why lenders charge borrowers interest.  A student asked “Isn’t the state of California increasing the amount of money they withhold from people’s paychecks, and isn’t that like an interest-free loan fro ...

It has become fashionable for high-profile establishment journalists to call for government subsidies to save the newspaper business. It is a terrible idea ...

To try to save money on health reform, reformers have proposed to create a two-tiered system of subsidies.  Those who remain with employer-provided health insurance would largely be left in the existing system, while others would have access to a new subsidy. ...

In a month, if White House officials are to be believed, the Obama Administration will unveil the tax reform report of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Despite once-high expectations, it is likely to be a waste of everyone’s time. Th ...

Contrary to all the advice TaxVox offered, the Senate last night voted to extend the Homebuyer’s Tax Credit for seven months and expand it to include many people who already own homes. The House will likely follow suit today.I have clearly misread the mood of Congress and the country. ...

Long-term care insurance has been a model of market failure. The need for care in frail old age or disability seems to be the ideal insurable event. Two-thirds of those over 65 will need some assistance before they die and 20 percent will need it for more than five years ...

My colleague Howard Gleckman has summarized the tax plan that Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) presented at the Tax Policy Center on October 29.  He describes it as a consumption tax, but that’s not what it is.  It is actually mostly a tax on wage income that would treat those who work for a living ver ...

Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), one of Congress’ most interesting members, was the guest at this morning’s session of TPC’s Tax Reform 2.0 series. He c ...

The House leadership seems convinced that a relative handful of people should pay for health reform ...