The American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA), the New Year’s legislation that effectively forestalled the bulk of the January 2013 fiscal cliff, probably staved off a recession. But compared to doing nothing, Congress made the deficit worse by passing ATRA. New Tax Policy Center calculations show how much more deficit reduction Congress will need to approve [...]

As tax filing season approaches, the IRS is reminding  low-income families about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC provides a wage subsidy for low- and moderate-income families and is an important income support for many.  In 2012, a family with two children could receive an income boost of 40 cents for every dollar [...]

Last week Louisiana’s Republican Governor Bobby Jindal proposed replacing the state’s individual income and corporate taxes with a higher sales tax. While details are scarce, initial media reports suggest Jindal would both raise the sales tax rate and make more goods and services subject to the levy. Louisiana’s current 8.86 percent average combined state and [...]

Following Congress’s last minute passage of legislation averting a plunge off the fiscal cliff, TPC has released a new Tax Calculator that lets users examine the effects of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA). As with earlier versions, the new calculator compares income and payroll tax liabilities under alternative scenarios: ATRA, the tax [...]

The 2001-10 tax cuts placed substantial emphasis on “pro-family” tax reform. The more prominent features favoring families with children included a doubling of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to $1,000 per child and making it broadly refundable, increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for families with at least 3 children, increasing the point at [...]

Normally, at the end of each year, investors sell stock (and other assets) to recognize losses to offset gains recognized earlier in the year. Sometimes they do it the other way around, harvesting gains that can be offset by earlier losses. But this year is different: many investors are recognizing gains, even if they don’t [...]

As a lame-duck Congress once again faces an impending deadline for dealing with expiring tax cuts, TPC has released a new Tax Calculator to compare potential outcomes. We obviously don’t know what the outcome of negotiations between Congress and the White House will be but have modeled four possibilities: 2012 tax law (with an AMT [...]

So the dance begins. President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), and various other lawmakers are starting to lay down their markers as they look to back away from the fiscal cliff. Based on their public words, at least, the parties remain far apart. Yet there are signs that both sides are looking for a deal. [...]

The Child Tax Credit (CTC), a key piece of the safety net for low- and moderate-income families, is in jeopardy as the nation hurtles towards the fiscal cliff. Not only could the 2001 expansion of the credit die, but so could provisions in the 2009 stimulus that made the credit much more available to low-income [...]

In last night’s debate, Mitt Romney repeated the idea that he could pay for much or all of the 20 percent rate reduction and other tax cuts in his tax plan by capping itemized deductions at $25,000. He had previously suggested a $17,000 cap in an interview and, in the first debate, $25,000 or $50,000 [...]