Independence Day reminds us of the freedoms we enjoy, and of those who have served or are serving our nation in uniform to preserve those freedoms. Unfortunately, many veterans struggle to move ahead, or even to stay afloat, because their jobs don’t pay enough to ensure that they can afford the basics for themselves and their families. An important proposal to support low-wage workers is the...
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POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
House Bill a Step Forward on IRS Enforcement, But More Needed
June 10, 2019
A bill before the House Appropriations Committee would raise funding for IRS tax enforcement and operations support in 2020 — an important, but too modest, step forward after the damaging cuts in IRS enforcement since 2010. Given the depleted state and critical importance of IRS enforcement, lawmakers need to add more.
The U.S. tax system is based on voluntary compliance, which requires...
Reps. Kildee, Evans Introduce House Version of Working Families Tax Relief Act
June 6, 2019
Update, July 2: we’ve added a table at the end of this post showing the number of households, individuals, and children in each state whom the Kildee-Evans bill would benefit.
House Ways and Means Committee members Dan Kildee and Dwight Evans introduced a bill today to substantially expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC), which would boost the...
Audits of Highest-Income Taxpayers Fall Again
May 21, 2019
The IRS reported yesterday that it audited fewer millionaires and large corporations in fiscal year 2018 than the previous year, continuing a multi-year decline. Since 2010, the President and Congress have cut IRS funding substantially, causing workforce reductions and shortages of top auditors who have the expertise to review...
Learning About the Tax Gap Before Tomorrow’s House Hearing
May 8, 2019
The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow on the “tax gap” —between what taxpayers owe the federal government and what they pay on time. It’s particularly timely given the IRS’ depleted enforcement division and the challenges that the 2017 tax law poses for compliance. With some members of both parties...
As Mother’s Day Approaches, a Proposal to Help Millions of Mothers and Their Children
May 7, 2019
The approach of Mother’s Day is a good time to remember that legislation from Senators Sherrod Brown, Michael Bennet, Dick Durbin, and Ron Wyden, which another 42 senators support, would help 23 million mothers and 49 million children by expanding the Earned...
Regulating the “Wild West” of Tax Return Preparation
April 26, 2019
Taxpayers’ widespread confusion and frustration this past filing season, the first under the 2017 tax law, highlights the important role of tax preparation professionals in helping millions file their returns. Some tax preparers (e.g., certified public accountants) have...
Tax Day 2019 Charts: Working Families Should Be Priority of Restructured 2017 Tax Law
April 12, 2019
As people rush to file their income tax returns by Tax Day (April 15), a few reminders: First, as the Brookings Institution’s Vanessa Williamson explained: “Residents of the United States are unusually likely [compared to other countries] to see chipping in their share as a civic duty, a...
House GOP Tax Fix for Restaurant, Retail Owners Leaves Out Millions of Their Workers
December 6, 2018
The House Republican tax package making “technical corrections” to the 2017 tax law repeats one of the law’s fundamental flaws: cutting...
House Republican “2.0” Tax Plan Favors Wealthiest, Makes Fiscal Problems Worse
September 6, 2018
Update, September 14: we’ve updated this post to incorporate new Tax Policy Center data on the plan’s cost estimate and its impact on different income groups.
The House is expected to vote this month on its “2.0” tax plan, which would double down on the...
