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Howard Gleckman
on Thu 30 Apr 2009 03:09 PM EDT
President Obama said last night he was going to request $1.5 billion to help address the swine flu outbreak. I wish he had also promised to find the dough to pay for this initiative. But, he didn’t.
This follows a troubling, and ongoing, pattern. Obama and the congressional Democrats say they recognize the consequences of burgeoning deficits and promise to address the problem—next time.
more »
by
Ben Harris
on Wed 29 Apr 2009 10:29 AM EDT
Earlier this week the Washington Post published an article painting the Administration’s tax plan as one that would burden small business owners with soaring tax payments. In stark contrast, a Post editorial run just two weeks earlier—“The Small Business Myth”—debunked claims that Obama’s plan unfairly targeted business owners. Which Washington Post piece is right? more »
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Howard Gleckman
on Tue 28 Apr 2009 02:30 PM EDT
A new package of anti-swine flu tax incentives was introduced in the House today.
The three-pronged package would provide a new tax credit for businesses that purchase liquid hand sanitizers, make it easier for state and local governments to sell tax-exempt bonds to finance swine flu first-response teams, and provide a new deduction for automobile air handlers.
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Bob Williams
on Mon 27 Apr 2009 08:00 AM EDT
It’s been more than two months since President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law, so where’s the money?
Most workers saw a small boost in take-home pay earlier this month, thanks to withholding changes their employers made to implement the Making Work Pay tax credit. Many retirees have received their $250 piece of the stimulus pie. Some people who bought homes this year undoubtedly claimed the $8,000 first-time homebuyers credit on their 2008 tax returns. But most of us will have to wait until we file our 2009 returns next spring to get the rest of the tax bennies. more »
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Len Burman
on Fri 24 Apr 2009 08:00 AM EDT
Jan Kinney, Tax Legislative Coordinator at Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, a Washington law firm with a significant tax practice, puts together a very handy daily tax update. When Congress is in session, it includes lists of newly introduced tax legislation. Here’s the list for April 22. more »
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Howard Gleckman
on Thu 23 Apr 2009 03:52 PM EDT
It seems TPC has gone green. Len Burman has told us what he thinks of the bike subsidy (not much) and Rosanne Altshuler has struggled to figure out what tax breaks she can get for installing energy efficient windows.
Not to be outdone, here is my own contribution: Big tax subsidies to encourage production of ethanol have helped yield two results: They have contributed to an increase of as much as 15 percent in the cost of food, and they have produced no measurable reduction in auto-related greenhouse gas emissions. Oops.
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Len Burman
on Wed 22 Apr 2009 04:04 PM EDT
As a bike freak and a tax geek, you’d think that I’d be thrilled about the new tax break for qualified bicycle-commuting reimbursement. I’ve been riding my bike to work for 30 years, so this new tax expenditure has my name written all over it. The biker in me wants to cry out, “It’s about time!” But the tax geek just groans. more »
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Bob Williams
on Wed 22 Apr 2009 01:51 PM EDT
Among the many perks firms offer to their top executives, one of the less well-known is the “gross-up,” cash payments given to cover the tax on other perks such as the use of the corporate jet, club memberships, and golden parachutes. And, of course, the gross-up is itself grossed up to include the tax due on it: each payment generates yet another to cover more tax.
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by
Howard Gleckman
on Tue 21 Apr 2009 04:09 PM EDT
When it comes to retirement savings, the recent stock market collapse has surely focused the mind. For years, we embraced the lovely, but ultimately absurd, idea that double-digit returns on equity investments would continue forever. Now, retirees-in-waiting must get their arms around a market that lost half of its value between June, 2008 and March of this year.
In this gut-wrenching environment, how should we think about retirement savings? Harvard law professor Dan Halperin, a visiting scholar at TPC, has a provocative solution: He’d dump all tax-advantaged employer-based retirement savings plans and use the money—nearly $100 billion in 2009-- to enhance Social Security.
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Len Burman
on Mon 20 Apr 2009 02:52 PM EDT
I was quoted in the New York Times yesterday, which is kind of fun. Many of my friends read the Times, and it’s a great way to make new friends, and enemies. more »
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Bob Williams
on Mon 20 Apr 2009 09:00 AM EDT
Tax Day has come and gone and IRS commissioner Doug Shulman says refunds this year will total roughly $300 billion. About two-thirds of that amount had already gone out to early tax filers by the beginning of this month.
That’s a significant amount of money and it could boost the economy—if recipients spend it. In today’s economic environment, that’s a big if. more »
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Rosanne Altshuler
on Fri 17 Apr 2009 09:00 AM EDT
It’s never too early to plan for next year’s taxes. Let’s say you’re thinking about doing some energy-saving home improvements soon and want to know what federal tax credits are available and how they work. How would you find out?
You might try the IRS website. I did but, unfortunately, couldn’t find any information about energy credits for 2009. more »
by
Howard Gleckman
on Thu 16 Apr 2009 03:00 PM EDT
Commenter dh has raised a provocative question in response to my post the other day about why I hate filing taxes:
“I wonder if the use of tax software actually increased the complexity of the tax code. Perhaps the fact that AMT was reaching a large swatch of the population would (have) been addressed sooner if everyone was required to hire an accountant rather than buy a $50 program to figure it out.”
more »
by
Howard Gleckman
on Thu 16 Apr 2009 01:41 PM EDT
TPC's Eric Toder will be part of an all-star cast tomorrow to discuss tax expenditures. Eric, who did a terrific paper with Len Burman and Chris Geissler on the recent explosion of these provisions, will be joined by Bob Frank, Jim Nussle, Doug Holtz-Eakin, and others. Tomorrow at the New America Foundation from 9:30 -11:30. For more info, click here. It should be interesting.
by
Bob Williams
on Wed 15 Apr 2009 08:41 PM EDT
State revenues are collapsing with the economy. A new study from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government reports that state tax collections fell in the last quarter of 2008 for the first time since 2002 (see graph). Not only did the volatile personal and corporate income tax revenues drop but so did the usually more stable sales taxes—declining by 6 percent before adjusting for inflation. more »
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