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

Lack of Audits of Financial Services Firms Distressing

Apr 9, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

Despite the news from last week that the IRS is staffing up and hiring thousands of additional revenue agents and officers, there is new data out from the IRS that is a bit depressing. The Transactional Records Access Clearninghouse (TRAC) released a new report today that shows the IRS continues to do too little to audit financial services firms, particularly those with over $250 million in assets.

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Sen. Lincoln and the Multi-Millionaire Farmer

Apr 8, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

The estate tax just can't seem to stay out of the headlines lately. First, the New York Times ran another great editorial this morning browbeating the 10 Democratic and 41 Republican senators who voted to increase tax cuts for multi-millionaires last week. The Times held particular scorn for Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), who tried to justify offering the amendment to reward the super-rich saying it was really about small businesses and job creation. From the editorial:

The implication is that upon the death of an owner, estate taxes typically devastate small businesses and the jobs they provide. That is swill.

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House, Senate Pass Budget Resolutions

The House and Senate each passed their budget resolutions on April 2, mostly along party lines, before breaking for a two-week spring recess. The resolutions delineate approximately $3.6 trillion in spending for Fiscal Year 2010 and track closely with the major proposals outlined by President Barack Obama, including estimates of historic budget deficits. Those deficits could become significantly worse due to the adoption of an amendment in the Senate that calls for further cuts to the estate tax, benefiting the richest families in the country.

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CBO Monthly Budget Review: March, 2009

Apr 7, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its monthly budget review this morning that estimates a deficit of $953 billion for the first half of FY 2009. This is a whopping $640 billion more than for the same period in FY 2008.

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Senators Stake Out Absurd Positions on Fiscal "Responsibility"

Apr 3, 2009 by Craig Jennings

I just wanted to take a minute or two to heap scorn on the Senators who voted to cut taxes for millionaires, but especially on those who claim allegiance to "fiscal responsibility."

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Senate (sort of) Passes Estate Tax Cut

Apr 3, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

Well, the U.S. Senate is a mysterious thing. The Lincoln/Kyl estate tax amendment to reward the children of multi-millionaires passed last night - 51 - 48. But there's a caveat. The Senate also passed an amendment from Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) that prohibits any estate tax cuts called for in the Lincoln/Kyl amendment unless an equally large tax cut is passed for Americans making under $100,000 per year. That amendment also passed 56 - 43. Even Lincoln voted for Durbin's amendment (I guess she just really likes tax cuts?). I think on a procedural level this amendment does help a bit. While the Durbin amendment doesn't negate the Lincoln/Kyl amendment, it does make it a bit harder to develop legislation that would actually enact a change in the estate tax that is called for under the Lincoln/Kyl amendment.

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Long Overdue Outrage Over the Anti-Estate Tax Crowd

Apr 2, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

Both the New York Times and the Washington Post ran lead editorials this morning denouncing the attempt of Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to give yet another tax cut to the children of the very richest Americans. Both editorials are spot on and raise excellent points about why Sens. Lincoln and Kyl seem to be both out of touch and out of their minds. In fact, both editorials express far more outrage and disdain for this proposed tax cut than I've ever seen before in any newspaper. (Read the Times and Post editorials.)

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56 National Organizations Oppose More Tax Cuts for Millionaires

Mar 31, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

The House and Senate are debating the FY 2010 budget resolution on the floor this week and in anticipation of regressive amendments that would expand the cut to the estate tax enacted under the Bush administration, OMB Watch joined 55 other national nonprofit organizations have sent a letter to each senator urging them to oppose any amendment that further erodes the estate tax.

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IRS Stepping it Up!

Mar 31, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

BNA reported (sorry, no link) last night that the IRS is set to step up its enforcement of the tax code by hiring additional revenue agents and officers. While you might not like the IRS, this is great news for starting to chip away at the $345 billion annual tax gap. Deputy Commission for Services and Enforcement Linda Stiff gives more details.

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