Author: Alex Welch

December 7, 2009 02:33 PM | Permalink |

A comparison of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act (introduced by Senator Carl Levin and Rep. Lloyd Doggett) and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (introduced by House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus).

Read the report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want even more CTJ? Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Youtube!

December 2, 2009 11:08 AM | Permalink |

The best estate tax policy, in terms of both fairness and fiscal responsibility, would prevent the estate tax from disappearing in 2010 and set the estate tax parameters as close as possible to pre-Bush law. The worst estate tax policy would be to shrink (or repeal) the estate tax to make it even less significant than it is under the rules in effect for 2009.

On December 3, the House of Representatives approved a bill (H.R. 4154) that would make permanent the estate tax rules in effect in 2009. On the spectrum of “good policy” to “bad policy,” this proposal falls somewhere in the middle. On one hand, it would be a tax cut of hundreds of billions of dollars for families who pass millions of dollars on through consecutive generations. On the other hand, it would prevent the estate tax from disappearing in 2010 and could make lawmakers less tempted to make permanent a repeal of the estate tax or to cut it more than it has been cut as of 2009.

Read the report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want even more CTJ? Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Youtube!

November 13, 2009 03:30 PM | Permalink |

Each year, the federal government actually spends more on programs it administers via the tax code – i.e. “tax expenditures” – than it does on discretionary spending programs.  A new report from Citizens for Tax Justice, Judging Tax Expenditures, explains why it’s time for the federal government to finally follow through on its long-unfulfilled promise to evaluate the usefulness of these special tax breaks.

Read the report.

Read the 2-page summary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want even more CTJ? Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Youtube!

November 13, 2009 02:15 PM | Permalink |

(State-by-State Figures in Appendix)

H.R. 3962, the health care reform bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7, includes a 5.4 percent surcharge on adjusted gross income (AGI) above $1 million for married couples and $500,000 for singles. Our calculations confirm statements from the House Ways and Means Committee that this would affect only the richest 0.3 percent of taxpayers in 2011, the first year the surcharge would take effect.

Read the report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want even more CTJ? Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Youtube!

November 10, 2009 04:55 PM | Permalink |

Written testimony of Michael J. McIntyre, professor of law at Wayne State University in Detroit, and Robert S. McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice, on the proposed tax treaties with France, New Zealand, and Malta. Submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Read the testimony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want even more CTJ? Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Youtube!

November 2, 2009 04:12 PM | Permalink |

Efforts by Congressional leaders to extend unemployment insurance (UI) benefits are entirely reasonable. It is unfortunate, however, that the price of providing this necessary help will be tax breaks to corporations and to the housing industry. The expansion and extension of both the homebuyer credit and the “net operating loss carryback” are ill-advised.

Read the report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want even more CTJ? Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Youtube!

October 16, 2009 01:33 PM | Permalink |

President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) recently requested ideas from the public about how the federal tax system could be reformed. The following comments were submitted by Citizens for Tax Justice.

Read CTJ’s Suggested Principles for Tax Reform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want even more CTJ? Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Youtube!

September 24, 2009 01:43 PM | Permalink |

(State-by-State Figures in Appendix)

This report compares the revenue impact and distributional effects of six progressive revenue measures that have been discussed by members of Congress in recent months as options for financing health care reform. All of the six revenue measures examined here would make our tax system fairer, which is badly needed after the regressive tax cuts enacted over the past several years.

Read the report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want even more CTJ? Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Youtube!

September 21, 2009 07:20 PM | Permalink |

(State-by-State Figures in Appendix)

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to begin work this week on an overhaul to the American health care system. Many lawmakers and health experts have expressed concern that the proposal put forward by the committee’s chairman, Senator Max Baucus of Montana, does not provide enough resources to make health care affordable for working families. One option being discussed in the Senate is to reform the Medicare tax to raise the revenue needed to improve the affordability provisions.

Read the report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want even more CTJ? Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Youtube!

September 8, 2009 07:09 PM | Permalink |

Newly revised estimates from Citizens for Tax Justice show that the Bush tax cuts cost almost $2.5 trillion over the decade after they were first enacted (2001-2010). Preliminary estimates from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office show that the House Democrats’ health care reform legislation is projected to cost $1 trillion over the decade after it would be enacted (2010-2019). And yet, many of the lawmakers who argue that the health care reform legislation is “too costly” are the same lawmakers who supported the Bush tax cuts.

Read the report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want even more CTJ? Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Youtube!