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Tax Credits for Lower-Income Working Families Help 21 Million Mothers
May 9, 2013
Two working-family tax credits — the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) — have proven to be powerful tools for reducing children's poverty and advancing their long-term well-being.[1] About 21 million low- and moderate-income working mothers received either the EITC or the low-income portion of the CTC in … -
Reducing Overpayments in the Earned Income Tax Credit
April 30, 2013
A recent report from the Treasury Department’s Inspector General raised the issue of overpayments in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).[1] The EITC, a tax credit for low- and moderate-income working families that has been shown to increase work, lower welfare receipt, and reduce poverty, has a significant error rate that needs … -
Obama Proposal to Limit Tax Breaks for High-Income Households Would Reduce Total Charitable Contributions By a Modest 1.6 to 3.0 Percent
Revised April 30, 2013
The President’s fiscal year 2014 budget includes a proposal from previous Obama budgets to limit the tax subsidies that affluent Americans take for deductible expenses and some other tax expenditures. After the President made this proposal in previous budgets, some critics contended it would lead to substantial reductions in … -
The Earned Income Tax Credit and Refundable Child Tax Credit in Rural America
April 19, 2013
In 2010, 22.9 percent of rural tax filers — compared with 20 percent of filers nationwide — claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), according to research by the Brookings Institution and the Carsey Institute.[1] This difference reflects rural areas’ generally lower wage levels. The EITC brought $10.5 billion in benefits to … -
Myths and Realities about the Estate Tax
Revised April 16, 2013
The estate tax is a tax on property (cash, real estate, stock, or other assets) transferred from deceased persons to their heirs. Only the wealthiest estates in the country pay the tax because it is levied only on the portion of an estate’s value that exceeds a specified exemption level, currently $5.25 million per person … -
Policy Basics: Tax Exemptions, Deductions, and Credits
Updated April 16, 2013
Tax exemptions, deductions, and credits all can reduce the amount of taxes that a person owes. Some of these tax benefits are intended to reflect a person’s ability to pay tax; the Child Tax Credit, for example, recognizes the costs of raising children. Other tax benefits, such as the deductions for charitable donations and home mortgage interest payments, … -
Policy Basics: Federal Payroll Taxes
Updated April 15, 2013
The federal government levies payroll taxes primarily on wages and self-employment income and uses most of the revenue to fund Social Security, Medicare, and other social insurance benefits. Federal payroll taxes generated $845 billion in 2012, or 35 percent of all federal revenues (see “Policy Basics: Where Do Federal Tax Revenues Come From?”). … -
Policy Basics: Marginal and Average Tax Rates
Updated April 15, 2013
Misunderstandings about two different types of tax rates often create confusion in discussions about taxes. A taxpayer’s average tax rate (or effective tax rate) is the share of income that he or she pays in taxes. By contrast, a taxpayer’s marginal tax rate is the tax rate imposed on his or her last dollar of income. Taxpayers’ average tax rates … -
President Obama’s Deficit-Reduction Package and Other Proposals in the 2014 Budget
April 11, 2013
The President’s 2014 budget is presented in two parts. One part includes the package of deficit- reduction policies that the President included in his last offer to Speaker Boehner during the “fiscal cliff” negotiations in December 2012. This package would reduce the deficit by $1.8 trillion over the next decade … -
Federal Income Taxes on Middle-Income Families Remain Near Historic Lows
Revised April 11, 2013
Federal taxes on middle-income Americans are near historic lows,[1] according to the latest available data. That’s true both for federal income taxes and total federal taxes.[2] Income taxes: A family of four in the exact middle of the income spectrum will pay only 5.3 percent of its 2013 income in federal income taxes next year, according to a new analysis by … -
Earned Income Tax Credit Promotes Work, Encourages Children’s Success at School, Research Finds
Revised April 9, 2013
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which went to 27.5 million low- and moderate-income working families in 2010, provides work, income, educational, and health benefits to its recipients and their children, a substantial body of research shows. In addition, recent ground-breaking research suggests, the EITC’s benefits extend well … -
Mortgage Interest Deduction Is Ripe for Reform
April 4, 2013
Costing about $70 billion a year, the mortgage interest deduction is one of the largest federal tax expenditures, but it appears to do little to achieve the goal of expanding homeownership. The main reason is that the bulk of its benefits go to higher-income households who generally could afford a home without assistance: in 2012, … -
Tax Foundation Figures Do Not Represent Typical Households’ Tax Burdens
April 2, 2013
The Tax Foundation released its annual “Tax Freedom Day” report today that, once again, can leave a strikingly misleading impression of tax burdens — showing an average federal tax rate across the United States that’s likely higher than the tax rate that 80 percent of U.S. households actually pay. To project the day … -
Ryan Budget Understates Defense Spending by $100 Billion
March 19, 2013
The Ryan budget understates defense spending by $100 billion over the next ten years. It claims $100 billion in defense savings that, in reality, would not materialize because they are flatly inconsistent with Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates of the amount of defense spending that would result from the amount of defense … -
An Apples-to-Apples Comparison of the Deficit-Reduction Figures in the House and Senate Budget Plans
March 19, 2013
The House and Senate are scheduled to consider the budget resolutions that their respective budget committees approved last week. These two budgets — one drafted by House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan, the other by Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray — offer sharply contrasting visions.[1] Yet they are not … -
The Ryan Budget’s Tax Cuts: Nearly $6 Trillion in Cost and No Plausible Way to Pay for It
March 17, 2013
The new budget from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan proposes a series of dramatic tax cuts that would cost nearly $6 trillion in lost federal revenue over the next decade (see Figure 1), and that would provide the lion’s share of their benefits to high-income households and corporations. But, despite its stated … -
Chairman Ryan Gets 66 Percent of His Budget Cuts from Programs for People With Low or Moderate Incomes
March 15, 2013
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s new budget plan would get at least 66 percent of its $5 trillion in non-defense budget cuts over ten years (relative to a continuation of current policies) from programs that serve people of limited means, standing a core principle of the Simpson-Bowles fiscal commission on its head. Not much … -
Jared Bernstein Testimony: Tax Expenditures: How Cutting Spending Through the Tax Code Can Lower the Deficit, Improve Efficiency, and Boost Fairness in the US Tax Code
March 5, 2013
Chairman Murray, ranking member Sessions, I thank you for the opportunity to testify today. These are uniquely challenging times for fiscal policy. Our national economy continues to face a series of self-imposed fiscal deadlines in the forms of cliffs, ceilings, and most recently, sequestration. Various independent analyses find … -
Tax Expenditure Reform: An Essential Ingredient of Needed Deficit Reduction
February 27, 2013
The revenue raised as part of January’s American Tax Relief Act (ATRA) came primarily as a result of raising tax rates on high-income households. Yet throughout the negotiations around avoiding the fiscal cliff last year, both President Obama and Speaker Boehner called for raising revenue through limiting tax deductions, exclusions, and other tax breaks … -
Testimony of Robert Greenstein, President, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Before the Senate Committee on Finance
February 26, 2013
Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Finance Committee, I appreciate the invitation to testify here today. As we all know, the nation faces fiscal and economic challenges, and we will have to make some tough decisions to put the budget on a more sustainable fiscal course and to do so without hindering a still-too-weak economic … -
Commentary: A Look at the New Simpson-Bowles Plan
February 22, 2013
The new deficit-reduction plan that Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles issued this week calls for $2.4 trillion of additional deficit reduction over the next ten years (through 2023), with roughly $2.1 trillion in policy changes and about $300 billion in resulting interest savings.[1] Of the policy savings, about $700 billion would come … -
Policy Basics: The Child Tax Credit
Updated February 1, 2013
Enacted in 1997 and expanded with bipartisan support since 2001, the Child Tax Credit (CTC) helps working families offset the cost of raising children. It is worth up to $1,000 per eligible child (under age 17 at the end of the tax year). Taxpayers eligible for the credit subtract it from the total amount of federal income taxes they would otherwise … -
“Pease” Provision in Fiscal Cliff Deal Doesn’t Discourage Charitable Giving and Leaves Room for More Tax Expenditure Reform
January 29, 2013
The recent “fiscal cliff” deal reinstated a limit on itemized deductions for high-income taxpayers known as the “Pease” provision,[1] which policymakers created as part of the 1990 bipartisan deficit-reduction package but which the Bush tax cuts phased out between 2006 and 2010. In recent days, some pundits … -
Achieving Further Deficit Reduction Solely Through Spending Cuts Entails Cutting Entitlements That Benefit the Poor and Middle Class While Shielding the Biggest Entitlements for the Wealthy
January 9, 2013
Since President Obama and Congress enacted the “fiscal cliff” budget deal, congressional Republican leaders have vowed not to raise a dollar more in taxes for deficit reduction. All further deficit reduction, they say, must come from budget cuts, primarily from entitlement programs. That, however, would spare the broad … -
Commentary: Next Round on the Deficit
January 7, 2013
In recent days, policymakers, pundits, and the media have debated whether the “fiscal cliff” budget deal was a victory or defeat for the President or congressional Republicans, progressives or conservatives, rich or poor, the economy or the deficit — you name it. Most of the commentary is unpersuasive, however, for … -
Budget Deal Makes Permanent 82 Percent of President Bush’s Tax Cuts
January 3, 2013
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA)[1] , which President Obama signed into law last night, makes permanent 82 percent of President Bush’s tax cuts. The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) and Congressional Budget Office estimate that making permanent all of the Bush tax cuts would have cost $3.4 trillion over 2013-2022.[2] … -
Correcting Misunderstandings About Obama’s Latest Tax Offer Vs. Boehner’s “Plan B”
December 20, 2012
On the tax side of the “fiscal cliff” talks between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, the differences between Obama’s latest offer and Boehner’s “Plan B” proposal are far greater than much of the news coverage has suggested. The same holds true for the differences between … -
Chart Book: The Bush Tax Cuts
December 10, 2012
To provide context for the debate about addressing expiring tax provisions and reducing long-term deficits, we’ve collected some of our charts related to the Bush tax cuts, which show that the tax cuts (1) are costly, (2) have worsened inequality, and (3) should be allowed to expire on schedule for incomes over $250,000. 1. The Bush Tax Cuts Are Costly … -
Statement of Robert Greenstein, President, in Response to Republican Budget Offer
December 4, 2012
House Republican leaders portray the deficit-reduction offer that they issued yesterday as a fair middle ground. It isn’t. On the crucial issue of revenues, the new Republican offer proposes $800 billion over ten years. Contrast that with the plan that Erskine Bowles, Alan Simpson, and some members of their commission issued in December 2010, … -
Restraining Tax Expenditures Should Complement, Not Replace, Letting High-Income Bush Tax Cuts Expire
November 29, 2012
Some policymakers have suggested capping itemized deductions for taxpayers with incomes over $250,000 (for couples) and $200,000 (for singles) as an alternative to letting President Bush’s tax cuts for these taxpayers expire on schedule. To raise the same amount of revenue, however, would require tax changes that pose serious … -
The Tension Between Reducing Tax Rates and Reducing Deficits
October 26, 2012
Over the past few months, a number of analyses have highlighted the difficulty of cutting income tax rates deeply, producing a significant revenue contribution to deficit reduction (as part of a larger deficit-reduction package), and maintaining the progressivity of the tax code.[1] Most recently, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) … -
Payroll Tax Cut and Emergency Unemployment Insurance Still Needed to Support the Recovery
October 16, 2012
Among the various tax and spending measures scheduled to expire at the end of this year, the temporary payroll tax cut enacted in 2010 and emergency federal unemployment insurance (UI) are among the most cost-effective at supporting the economic recovery without endangering efforts to control long-term deficits and debt. Given the state … -
State-Level Estimates Show Stark Contrasts Under Proposals To Extend Cut in Estate Tax While Failing to Extend Improvements in Tax Credits For Working Families
October 15, 2012
In recent proposals to extend expiring tax cuts beyond the end of the year, Republican leaders in the House and Senate have called for extending an estate-tax cut enacted in 2010 that provides a large tax break to the estates of the wealthiest 0.3 percent of Americans who die each year — about 7,000 people — while ending a … -
Misguided “Fiscal Cliff” Fears Pose Challenges to Productive Budget Negotiations
Updated September 24, 2012
The sooner policymakers enact legislation to put the budget on a sustainable long-term path without threatening the vulnerable economic recovery, the better. But, as they prepare for an almost certain post-election "lame duck" session of Congress, policymakers should not make budget decisions with long-term consequences based … -
Romney Budget Proposals Would Necessitate Very Large Cuts in Medicaid, Education, Health Research and Other Programs
Updated September 24, 2012
Governor Mitt Romney’s proposals to cap total federal spending at 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and boost defense spending to 4 percent of GDP would require very large cuts in other programs, both entitlements and discretionary programs. This update of an earlier analysis is based on updated economic and budget … -
Chart Book: 10 Things You Need to Know About the Capital Gains Tax
Revised September 20, 2012
1. Capital gains tax rates are the lowest since the Great Depression. The capital gains tax rate on assets that have been held for more than one year is 15 percent for people above the 15 percent income tax bracket. (People in or below the 15 percent bracket owe no capital gains tax.) This is far below the top marginal tax rate on ordinary income — currently … -
Raising Today’s Low Capital Gains Tax Rates Could Promote Economic Efficiency and Fairness, While Helping Reduce Deficits
September 19, 2012
The large tax preferences that capital gains enjoy over “ordinary” income, such as salary and wages, add to budget deficits, widen income inequality, and do little if anything to promote economic growth. Recent bipartisan deficit commissions have called for eliminating or sharply reducing these tax preferences, as the … -
Misconceptions and Realities About Who Pays Taxes
Updated September 17, 2012
Executive Summary Close to half of U.S. households currently do not owe federal income tax. The Urban Institute-Brookings Tax Policy Center estimates that 46 percent of households will owe no federal income tax for 2011. [1] A widely cited figure is a Joint Committee on Taxation estimate that 51 percent of households paid no … -
Statement of Robert Greenstein, President, on Census’ 2011 Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance Data
September 12, 2012
Today’s Census data contained the good, the fair, and the ugly. The good news is that the number of uninsured Americans dropped by 1.3 million and the share of Americans without insurance fell by more than in any year since 1999; the fair news is that the poverty rate stayed flat after … -
Media Briefing: Examining the 2011 Census Data on Poverty, Health Insurance Coverage, and Income
September 12, 2012
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities held a conference call briefing to examine the Census Bureau data for 2011 on poverty, health insurance coverage, and income trends.
Robert Greenstein, the Center’s President, was joined by Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow, to discuss the new data.
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Proposed “Tax Reform” Requirements Would Invite Higher Deficits and a Shift in Taxes to Low- and Moderate-Income Families
July 31, 2012
Republican legislation that was introduced in the Senate by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and in the House by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) would establish requirements for tax-reform legislation that could generate higher deficits and substantially shift tax burdens … -
Bush Tax Cuts Have Provided Extremely Large Benefits to Wealthiest Americans Over Last Nine Years
July 30, 2012
The tax cuts first enacted under President Bush in 2001 and 2003 have made the tax code less progressive and delivered a large windfall to the highest-income taxpayers.[1] Tax Policy Center estimates for the years 2004 to 2012 (the years for which TPC provides data that are comparable from year to year) give us a sense of the cumulative effect of … -
Senate and House GOP Leaders' Tax Proposals Would Provide Windfall for Heirs of Largest Estates
Revised July 24, 2012
Senate and House Republican leaders are proposing to provide extremely large tax breaks averaging over $1 million per estate to the heirs of the biggest 0.3 percent of estates — that is, to the heirs of the richest three of every 1,000 people who die. The Senate and House leadership proposals each would do so by extending the … -
Why Uniform, Across-the-Board Cuts in Tax Rates Disproportionately Benefit Those with the Highest Incomes
July 23, 2012
Several policymakers, including Governor Mitt Romney and Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA), have proposed cutting all marginal income tax rates by the same percentage. Further, Senators Hatch and McConnell have proposed that instructions to Congress for tax reform include a requirement that individual tax rates be reduced “proportionally.… -
Allowing High-Income Bush Tax Cuts to Expire Would Affect Few Small Businesses
July 19, 2012
Allowing the top two marginal tax rates to return to pre-2001 levels as scheduled next year would affect very few small businesses, a recent Treasury Department study found.[1] The study shows that only 2.5 percent of small business owners face the top two rates. The claims that allowing the Bush tax cuts for high-income people … -
Video: Jared Bernstein and Chuck Marr Discuss How Tax Reform Could Become a Trap
June 28, 2012
Jared Bernstein and Chuck Marr, Director of Federal Tax Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, discuss the implications of tax reform if it is not done carefully. The discussion focuses on a recent report, "How Tax Reform Could Become a Trap: Tax Reform Holds Promise, But if Not Done Carefully, Could Increase the Deficit and Inequality and Harm … -
Testimony of Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow, Before the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means on Work Disincentives and the Safety Net
June 27, 2012
Chairmen Davis and Tiberi and ranking members Rep. Doggett and Rep. Neal, I thank you for inviting me to testify on this important question of our safety net and tax benefit programs and their impact on work. My first point, however, is that I believe it is essential to broaden the question at the heart of this hearing. For policy makers to gain a full … -
Budget Plans Should Not Rely on "Dynamic Scoring"
Revised June 21, 2012
Some Members of Congress and outside groups are calling for the use of "dynamic scoring" to estimate the budgetary effects of major legislation, notably tax reform proposals. In February, for instance, the House passed a bill (H.R. 3582) requiring the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) … -
How Tax Reform Could Become a Trap:
June 8, 2012
Policymakers are increasingly discussing the need for tax reform, with a number of them calling for large cuts in tax rates — to levels well below the Bush tax rates — as a core element of reform. They contend that sweeping but unspecified cuts in tax expenditures (credits, deductions, and other tax preferences) will offset … -
Joint Tax Committee: Raising Threshold for Bush Tax Cuts from $250,000 to $1 Million Would Lose $366 Billion — Nearly Half the Revenue
May 30, 2012
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's proposal to extend President Bush's income tax cuts for households making up to $1 million a year would lose nearly half of the revenue that President Obama's proposal to extend the tax cuts only for households making up to $250,000 would raise, according to new estimates from Congress' Joint Committee on … -
Romney Budget Proposals Would Require Massive Cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and Other Programs
Revised May 12, 2012
This report has been superseded by a new version, dated September 24, 2012, that reflects updated data and other information. Click to view the new analysis. Governor Mitt Romney’s proposals to cap total federal spending, boost defense spending, cut taxes, and balance the budget would require extraordinarily large cuts in other programs, both … -
Cantor Proposal for 20 Percent Business Tax Deduction Would Provide Windfall for Wealthy, Not Create Jobs
Updated May 11, 2012
Though billed as a measure to create jobs by aiding small businesses, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-VA) proposal for a 20 percent tax deduction in 2012 for businesses with fewer than 500 employees would benefit many high-income taxpayers — including many affluent doctors, lawyers, and stockbrokers — while failing to … -
Toomey Budget Similar to House-Passed Ryan Budget
May 9, 2012
The Senate may take up, as early as this week, a budget proposal from Senator Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA)[1] that is similar in most important respects to the budget resolution from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), which the House passed on March 29. [2] Like the Ryan budget, the Toomey plan (S. Con. Res. 37) would protect and extend tax cuts that … -
Video: Jared Bernstein and Chye-Ching Huang Discuss Tax Rates and the Economy
May 8, 2012
Jared Bernstein and Chye-Ching Huang discuss the Center's new, comprehensive analysis of recent findings on the economic effects of raising federal income taxes on upper-income taxpayers as part of a balanced effort to reduce budget deficits.
Duration 8:25
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Media Briefing: The Effect on the Economy of Raising Tax Rates on High-Income Households as Part of a Balanced Effort to Reduce Deficits - What the Evidence Shows
April 25, 2012
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities held a conference call briefing on Wednesday, April 25 to discuss the Center’s new, comprehensive analysis of recent findings on the economic effects of raising federal income taxes on upper-income taxpayers.
The panel featured leading authorities on tax policy, Leonard E. Burman, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Professor of Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and William G. Gale, Co-Director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, and Chye-Ching Huang, Tax Policy Analyst with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
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Recent Studies Find Raising Taxes on High-Income Households Would Not Harm the Economy
April 24, 2012
Many policymakers and pundits assume that raising federal income taxes on high-income households would have serious adverse consequences for the economy. Yet this belief, which has been subject to extensive research and analysis, does not fare well under scrutiny. As three leading tax economists recently concluded in a … -
Tax Foundation Figures Do Not Represent Typical Households’ Tax Burdens
April 2, 2012
This report has been updated. Click here for the updated analysis. The Tax Foundation released its annual “Tax Freedom Day” report today that, once again, leaves a strikingly misleading impression of tax burdens — announcing an “average” tax rate across the United States that’s likely higher than the tax … -
Blog Post: Chairman Ryan’s Misleading Chart
March 27, 2012
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan recently summarized his new tax proposal this way: [W]e’re saying get rid of all the special interest loopholes and tax shelters that are disproportionately used by those higher income earners, get rid of those tax shelters, so you can lower tax rates for everybody, and make us better wired for economic growth and job creation. Chairman Ryan has also said that most tax-expenditure benefits go to high-income people. The lead tax chart in Chairman Ryan’s budget document seems to support his statement, suggesting that the tax code includes a series of egregious loopholes (or “tax expenditures”) that mostly flow to very rich individuals. It gives the impression that we can easily eliminate tax … -
Blog Post: Chairman Ryan’s Misleading Chart
March 27, 2012
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan recently summarized his new tax proposal this way: [W]e’re saying get rid of all the special interest loopholes and tax shelters that are disproportionately used by those higher income earners, get rid of those tax shelters, so you can lower tax rates for everybody, and make us better wired for economic growth and job creation. Chairman Ryan has also said that most tax-expenditure benefits go to high-income people. The lead tax chart in Chairman Ryan’s budget … -
Blog Post: Ryan Roundup, 2012: Everything You Need to Know About Chairman Ryan's Budget
March 23, 2012
Below is a compilation of the CBPP blog posts to date on House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s new budget. Check back here frequently, as we will update this list as we put out new material. http://bit.ly/RyanPosts Overview/General Greenstein Statement March 21, 2012 "The new Ryan budget is a … -
Ryan Budget's Claim to Finance Its Tax Cuts for the Wealthy By Curbing Their Tax Breaks Does Not Withstand Scrutiny
March 22, 2012
Despite warning that the nation faces the “perils of debt,” House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan introduced a budget on March 20 whose tax proposals would be extremely costly and would disproportionately favor the nation’s highest-income households and large corporations.[1] His budget would cut the top … -
Blog Post: Greenstein on the Ryan Budget
March 21, 2012
We’ve issued a statement from Robert Greenstein on the budget from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. Here’s the opening: The new Ryan budget is a remarkable document — one that, for most of the past half-century, would have been outside the bounds of mainstream discussion due to its extreme nature. In essence, this budget is … -
Statement of Robert Greenstein, President, on Chairman Ryan's Budget Plan
March 21, 2012
The new Ryan budget is a remarkable document — one that, for most of the past half-century, would have been outside the bounds of mainstream discussion due to its extreme nature. In essence, this budget is Robin Hood in reverse — on steroids. It would likely produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U.S.… -
Can Governor Romney’s Tax Plan Meet Its Stated Revenue, Deficit, and Distributional Goals at the Same Time?
March 2, 2012
Unveiling his tax plan on February 22, Governor Romney's campaign said it would: 1) make permanent President Bush's tax cuts (but not those enacted under President Obama, which are scheduled to expire at the same time and which expanded several refundable tax credits for low- and middle-income families); 2) then cut individual … -
Six Tests for Corporate Tax Reform
Updated February 24, 2012
Congress may consider major changes to the corporate tax code this year. In light of the nation's significant economic and budgetary challenges, a well-designed corporate tax reform proposal should: Contribute to long-term deficit reduction. Corporate tax revenues are now at historical lows as a share of the economy, at a time when the … -
Contrary to "Entitlement Society" Rhetoric, Over Nine-Tenths of Entitlement Benefits Go to Elderly, Disabled, or Working Households
February 10, 2012
Some conservative critics of federal social programs, including leading presidential candidates, are sounding an alarm that the United States is rapidly becoming an “entitlement society” in which social programs are undermining the work ethic and creating a large class of Americans who prefer to depend on government benefits rather … -
Video: A Discussion with Jared Bernstein and Chye-Ching Huang on Capital Gains Tax
January 31, 2012
“There are lots of good reasons to get rid of” the preferential tax treatment of capital gains, Chye-Ching Huang tells Jared Bernstein in this video.
She notes, for instance, that “at the same time that capital gains income has been growing really rapidly, and growing at the very top of the income distribution, we have been cutting the rates. That is one of the major reasons why the tax system hasn’t been doing as much to push against income inequality as it used to.”
Chye-Ching and Jared discuss what capital gains are and the tax advantages they receive compared to ordinary income.
Duration: 4:52
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House Republican Proposal Would Undermine Foundation of Unemployment Insurance System
January 17, 2012
A provision that some policymakers may seek to include in legislation to extend the payroll tax cut through the end of 2012 would authorize the Secretary of Labor to let up to ten states per year use unemployment insurance (UI) funds for purposes other than paying benefits. The provision, part of the full-year payroll-tax bill … -
Hundreds of Thousands of Lower-Wage Workers, Many of Whom Worked for Decades, Would Be Denied Unemployment Insurance Under Provision Now Under Consideration
January 6, 2012
A provision that congressional negotiators will consider for legislation to extend the payroll tax cut through the end of 2012 would deny unemployment insurance (UI) to hundreds of thousands of lower-wage workers who worked for years or even decades, effectively paid UI taxes while they worked, and then were laid off. The provision, part … -
Republican Proposal To Pay For Payroll Tax Extension Would Increase Already Severe Cuts In Discretionary Programs
December 2, 2011
The plan of Senate Republican leaders to extend and expand payroll tax relief includes a smaller payroll tax cut and would provide less than half of the economic boost of the Democratic alternative. The plan claims to offset the costs of its payroll tax cut by freezing federal employee pay and cutting federal employment, but that claim is … -
Latest Democratic Offer Includes Further Compromise,
Matches Overall Numbers of Toomey Proposal;
Republicans Reject It
November 18, 2011
Democratic members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (called by some the Supercommittee) submitted an offer last Friday in response to a plan put forward earlier in the week by Senator Pat Toomey and other Joint Committee Republicans. Various media institutions reported today that this latest Democratic … -
GOP Tax Proposal Risks a Substantial Tax Shift From High-Income Households to Low- and Middle-Income Households
November 18, 2011
The Toomey plan from Republican negotiators on the deficit-reduction "supercommittee" would produce only a modest increase in revenues — about $300 billion over ten years, relative to a baseline that assumes Congress extends all of the Bush tax cuts. But it would accomplish this through what appears to be … -
Plan From Toomey, Other Republicans Not a First Step Toward Balanced Deficit Reduction
November 10, 2011
Senator Pat Toomey and other Republicans on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (“Supercommittee”) portray their new offer to raise close to $300 billion in revenues (under a plan to reduce deficits by about $1.5 trillion over ten years) as a significant concession, and some observers have suggested it represents a … -
Poverty and Financial Distress Would Have Been Substantially Worse in 2010 Without Government Action, New Census Data Show
November 7, 2011
Six temporary federal initiatives enacted in 2009 and 2010 to bolster the economy by lifting consumers’ incomes and purchases kept nearly 7 million Americans out of poverty in 2010, under an alternative measure of poverty that takes into account the impact of government benefit programs and taxes. These initiatives — three … -
“Supercommittee” Should Develop Balanced Package of Tax Increases and Spending Cuts
September 27, 2011
The new congressional committee on deficit reduction (the so-called "supercommittee") not only can consider revenue increases, but must consider them — as well as spending cuts — if it's going to produce a balanced plan. [1] There are five main reasons why. Spending cuts alone can't do the job. … -
Testimony: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on Policy Prescriptions for the Economy
September 15, 2011
Chairman Conrad, Senator Sessions, and other members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on policy prescriptions for the economy. To use the medical analogy in the title of this hearing, the U.S. economy is experiencing a long and difficult recovery from a severe acute illness — the 2007-2009 financial … -
Letting Payroll Tax Cut Expire Would Shrink Worker Paychecks and Damage Weak Economy
September 7, 2011
Failure by Congress to extend the temporary payroll tax cut enacted last December would reduce all paychecks starting on January 1, withdrawing needed support from the still-weak economy. The measure, part of the tax cut-unemployment insurance deal between President Obama and Republican leaders, reduces the employee share of the Social … -
Under House Budget, “Tax Reform” Places Top Priority on High-Income Tax Cuts and Ignores Deficit Reduction
Updated May 26, 2011
The tax proposals in the budget that the House approved on April 15 place a top priority on cutting taxes for high-income people, while doing nothing to reduce budget deficits, themselves. [1] In addition to making the Bush tax cuts permanent and continuing to provide relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax … -
Testimony: Aviva Aron-Dine on the Distribution of Tax Burdens and the Fairness of the Tax System
May 3, 2011
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Statement of Robert Greenstein, President, on Chairman Ryan’s Budget Plan
Updated April 20, 2011
Chairman Ryan’s sweeping budget plan has been labeled “courageous,” but it’s a cowardly budget in a crucial respect. It proposes a dramatic reverse-Robin-Hood approach that gets the lion’s share of its budget cuts from programs for low-income Americans — the politically and economically weakest group in … -
Reforming Tax Expenditures Can Reduce Deficits While Making the Tax Code More Efficient and Equitable
April 15, 2011
With the federal budget on an unsustainable path, our country’s fiscal problems need to be addressed in a way that is both effective and equitable. Scaling back and reforming “tax expenditures” — spending that is delivered through the tax code rather than government programs — should be an important part … -
Statement: Robert Greenstein on President Obama's Deficit-Reduction Plan
April 13, 2011
President Obama made an important contribution today to efforts to address the nation’s long-term fiscal problems, proposing a plan to reduce deficits by about $4 trillion over the next 12 years and meet the essential goal of stabilizing the national debt so that it rises no faster than … -
Tax Foundation Figures Do Not Represent Typical Households’ Tax Burdens
April 12, 2011
This report has been updated. Click here for the updated analysis. Executive Summary Each year, the Tax Foundation releases a report projecting “Tax Freedom Day,” which it describes as the day when Americans will have “earned enough money to pay this year’s tax obligations at the federal, state, and local levels.” [1] The Tax … -
Ryan Plan’s “Path to Prosperity” Is Just for the Wealthy
April 6, 2011
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s name for his budget — “The Path to Prosperity” — is a cruel joke. One of this nation’s core beliefs is that if you work hard and act responsibly, you can get ahead, raise a family, and have a decent life. That was never more true than in the three decades after World War II, when the path to … -
Republican Study Committee Bill Would Require Deepest Cuts in Programs for the Poor in U.S. History
April 5, 2011
Legislation unveiled last month by the Republican Study Committee, the powerful caucus that includes 176 House Republican members, would require the most severe cuts in programs for the poor in the nation’s history. Introduced by RSC Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), Tim Scott (R-SC), and RSC Budget and Spending Task Force Chair … -
Statement by Robert Greenstein on Senate Republican Leaders’ Proposed Balanced Budget Amendment
March 31, 2011
The balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that Senate Republican leaders unveiled today is the most radical major fiscal policy proposal in decades. It would require a balanced budget every year regardless of the state of the economy, an exceedingly unwise requirement that most … -
Testimony of Robert Greenstein, President, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Before the Senate Committee on Budget
March 9, 2011
Chairman Conrad, Ranking Member Sessions and members of the Budget Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss tax expenditures, tax reform, and what role they might play in deficit reduction. I am Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a policy institute … -
Federal Debt on Unsustainable Path Under Current Policies
January 31, 2011
The latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirm what we already knew: the federal budget is on an unsustainable path. [1] If we continue current policies — including a further extension of the Bush tax cuts, which policymakers recently extended through 2012 — deficits will remain … -
Podcast: The Impact of the New Budget Rules in the U.S. House of Representatives
January 11, 2011
Jim Horney, the Center’s Director of Federal Fiscal Policy, discusses the new budget rules in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Duration: 3:47
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Statement of Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, on the New House Budget Rules
January 5, 2011
Today’s vote by the new House majority to change the chamber’s rules, making it easier to pass tax cuts that increase the deficit, contradicts many Republican members’ anti-deficit rhetoric and marks a significant step away from fiscal discipline and toward the kind of rules that helped pave the way for the return of large deficits in the years … -
Despite Deep Recession and High Unemployment, Government Efforts — Including the Recovery Act — Prevented Poverty from Rising in 2009, New Census Data Show
January 5, 2011
Despite a deep recession, very high unemployment, and widespread hardship, a combination of existing safety net programs and temporary expansions in them enacted in 2009 all but prevented a rise in the poverty rate that year, according to a Center analysis of new poverty data the U.S. Census Bureau released this week that … -
House Republican Rule Changes Pave the Way For Major Deficit-Increasing Tax Cuts, Despite Anti-Deficit Rhetoric
Updated January 5, 2011
House Republican leaders yesterday unveiled major changes to House procedural rules that are clearly designed to pave the way for more deficit-increasing tax cuts in the next two years. These rules stand in sharp contrast to the strong anti-deficit rhetoric that many Republicans used on the campaign trail this fall. While … -
Zandi Analyses Show "Democratic" Measures in Tax Cut-UI Deal Boost Economy, "Republican" Measures Add to Deficit Risks
December 22, 2010
As a result of the tax cut-unemployment insurance legislation that President Obama signed into law last week, economic forecasters have substantially upgraded their outlook for 2011 (see the box on page 2). An analysis of the compromise by Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, indicates that this greater optimism stems … -
Unpacking the Tax Cut-Unemployment Compromise
December 10, 2010
Last night, the Senate released legislative language for the tax cut-unemployment insurance compromise negotiated between President Obama and Congressional Republicans. The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released an official cost estimate for the revenue portions of the bill shortly thereafter. These graphs illustrate the various components … -
Statement: Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, on the Tax Cut-Unemployment Insurance Deal
Updated December 8, 2010
The deal between President Obama and Republican leaders on tax cuts and unemployment insurance has two substantial positive aspects: its surprisingly strong protections for low- and middle-income working families and its stronger-than-expected boost for the economy and jobs. But it … -
Podcast: Key Issues Facing Congress
November 16, 2010
Jim Horney, the Center’s director of Federal Fiscal Policy, discusses the key issues facing Congress during the lame duck session that began yesterday.
Duration: 4:45
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Ryan Plan Makes Deep Cuts in Social Security
Revised October 21, 2010
A new analysis by Social Security’s chief actuary of several possible changes to the program allows one to calculate the size of the benefit reductions that Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget plan would generate. Those cuts are very deep. By 2080, the initial benefit of a medium earner (someone earning $43,000 in today’s terms) … -
Boehner Proposal Would Cut Non-Security Discretionary Programs 21 Percent, The Deepest Such Cut in Recent U.S. History
Revised September 15, 2010
House Minority Leader John Boehner on September 8 issued a proposal to cut funding for non-security discretionary programs and to extend all of the Bush tax cuts for two years. He portrayed the proposal as a bipartisan compromise. Closer examination shows, however, that this is a radical plan that reflects deeply conservative … -
High-Income People Would Benefit Significantly From Extension of “Middle-Class” Tax Cuts
August 13, 2010
A fact generally overlooked in the debate over whether Congress should extend the high-income Bush tax cuts — i.e. those targeted exclusively at couples making over $250,000 and single individuals making over $200,000 — is that these households will still receive substantial tax cuts if Congress extends the so-called … -
Extension of High-Income Tax Cuts Would Benefit Few Small Businesses; Jobs Tax Credit Would Be Better
August 3, 2010
Proponents of extending President Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for people with incomes over $250,000 argue, in part, that allowing them to expire after 2010 would weaken the economy by hurting small businesses. In reality, however, extending the tax cuts would do little for small business because only the top 3 percent of people with …
