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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The Estate Tax and Charitable Giving: State-by-State Analysis

Research has shown that eliminating the estate tax would have a significant negative impact on giving to charitable organizations. Using state-level data on charitable revenue, this report estimates the state-by-state loss in charitable giving that would result from a full elimination of the estate tax.

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The Deficit As a Serious Problem

Like the Reagan administration, the Bush administration continues to describe the budget deficit as a manageable problem and presents a rosy picture in which deficits will soon diminish. But like the Reagan administration these comments are far from reality.

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APPROPRIATIONS UPDATE - MISSING THE DEADLINE AGAIN

FY 2004 appropriations unlikely to be completed by the start of the new budget year.

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Economy and Jobs Watch: Political Business Cycle?

Economy and Jobs Watch Update

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Internet Tax Bites the Dust in the House

The moratorium on state taxation of Internet services is likely to be extended.

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Tools You Can Use - Links to Various Resources

Listing of useful federal budget and tax resources for nonprofits. Prepared for the Federation for Community Planning's "Federal Budget Training Academy" held in DC September 21-24, 2003.

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Effective Tax Rates

Sep 16, 2003 by Guest Blogger

The effective federal tax rate for middle income americans in 2000 was 16.7%, according to a new CBO report.

Congressional Budget Office - CBO FTP for 'Effective Federal Tax Rates, 1997 to 2000'

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Poverty is Growing in the United States

Poverty rates are rising according to new figures by the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Economy and Jobs Watch: Employment Outlook

The nation’s job market continues to struggle. In August, even though the unemployment rate improved slightly – falling from 6.2 to 6.1 percent – payroll employment fell by 93,000 jobs.

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Half of 2004 Deficit Deterioration Due to Revenue-Reduction Legislation

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is currently estimating a baseline $401 billion deficit for 2003 and a $480 billion deficit for 2004. In March, just six months ago, the CBO’s baseline indicated a much smaller $246 billion deficit for 2003 and a $200 billion deficit for 2004.

For 2004, this represents a $279 billion deterioration in the budget outlook (see Table 1). A detailed breakdown of the CBO data shows that 48% of the budget deterioration that occurred between March and August was due to legislative changes affecting revenue (see Table 2). At just over 16 percent of gross domestic product, revenue is now at its lowest level in 40 years. Download full report (.pdf)

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