Federal Tax Policy

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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more news

Estate-tax planners on giving

Nov 26, 2003 by Guest Blogger

Many estate tax planners are worried about the effect a repeal would have on charitable giving (see story below).

In this story, there was also quote from a lawyer saying that "Some studies suggest that repeal would decrease the amount given at death, while others seem to show that by removing the tax burden, there may be more discretionary assets available for planned giving." (Emphasis added)

This is a very standard kind of statement made by people who wish to deny the harmful affects an estate tax repeal would have on charities.

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Tax planning and Charity

Nov 26, 2003 by Guest Blogger

Estate planners often raise the issue of charitable giving and the tax benefits of giving, for example see:

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Baby Boomer Inheritance

Nov 25, 2003 by Guest Blogger

New reseach shows that the median inheritance for baby-boomers was $47,909 -- well below the $1.5 million of estates that will be tax free in 2004.

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Cost of Estate Tax Repeal

Nov 24, 2003 by Guest Blogger

Over 20 years, the repeal would cost $982 billion in lost revenues.

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Christian Science Monitor Article

Nov 24, 2003 by Guest Blogger

A recent article from the Christian Science Monitor describes the impact of proposed legislation (CARE act, and estate tax repeal) on charitable giving.

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IRS Estate tax data

Nov 24, 2003 by Guest Blogger

For the number of returns files by asset size see:

IRS Satistics of Income data on the estate tax and specifically "Estate Tax Returns Filed in 2001: Gross Estate by Type of Property, Deductions, Taxable Estate, Estate Tax and Tax Credits, by Size of Gross Estate".

See also the breakdown by state.

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The Fiscal Crisis Affecting the Nonprofit Sector

Nov 21, 2003 by Guest Blogger

Some charts from a recent presentation by Gary Bass:

The Fiscal Crisis Affecting the Nonprofit Sector (.doc)

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Farms and Businesses

Nov 21, 2003 by Guest Blogger

A recent email asked:

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Glossary of Important Budget Terms

A list of frequently used budget terms and their definitions, along with some links to other budget and economic glossaries.

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Reform Not Repeal

Nov 20, 2003 by Guest Blogger

AFET has registered the domains http://www.reformnotrepeal.org and http://www.reformnotrepeal.com. Feel free to use them to link to FairEstateTax.org.

These URL's represent AFET's belief that the estate tax in an important part of a fair and efficient tax system; and that simple reform is a viable option to full repeal.

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