Month: January 2007

January 23, 2007 02:22 PM | Permalink |

I’m Robert McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice. Founded in 1979, CTJ is a nonprofit tax policy research and advocacy group that fights for fair and adequate taxes at the federal, state and local levels. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the Budget Committee today, to discuss the federal “tax gap” — a polite word for tax cheating that is costing honest taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars every year.

Read the Full Testimony

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January 10, 2007 03:21 PM | Permalink |

There are two kinds of things that the new Congress can do regarding taxes. One approach is to come up with some revenue-enhancing tax changes that President Bush might sign. The other is to pass tax increase bills that the president will veto. Both approaches will probably be part of the agenda over the next two years, in that order.

Read the Full Report

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January 10, 2007 02:15 PM | Permalink |

Citizens for Tax Justice congratulates the U.S. House of Representatives on their successful reinstatement last week of the “pay-as-you-go” rules, or PAYGO, which helped Congress to balance the federal budget back in the 1990s. CTJ encourages the House, Democrats and Republicans, to resist the temptation to waive PAYGO in dealing with major policy issues such as the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Read the Full Report

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January 10, 2007 02:05 PM | Permalink |

Newly-released IRS information on estate tax returns filed in 2005 indicate that as the estate tax moves towards its temporary repeal in 2010, only the very wealthiest Americans are affected by it. This analysis gives a quick overview of the new IRS data.

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January 10, 2007 02:04 PM | Permalink |

The previous Congress failed in its efforts to enact permanent repeal of the federal estate tax, a move that would cost nearly $1 trillion over the first full decade. New data from the Internal Revenue Service, detailing estate tax payments in each state for 2005, show that more than ever, the estate tax is virtually irrelevant to most Americans.

A summary table for 2005 estate tax payments follows. Overall, the percentage of people owing estate taxes dropped by 39% between 2004 and 2005. This is largely because the estate tax exemption was increased to $1.5 million, compared to $1 million in the previous year. The exemption is scheduled to increase further in later years until 2010, when the estate tax is scheduled to be repealed. In 2011, however, the estate tax will be resurrected with the $1 million exemption and rates that applied under pre-Bush law.

Read the Full Report

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