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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Letter to the House Judiciary Committee on the Internet Nondiscrimination Tax

OMB Watch weighed in on the "Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Tax" considered by the House Judiciary Committee in September, 2001. September 18, 2001 House Judiciary Committee U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515, Dear Representative:

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Legislative Action on the Estate Tax in the 106th and 107th Congresses

A list of bills introduced into the 106th and 107th Congresses. Action on the Estate Tax by the 107th Congress

Action on Final Estate Tax Language in 2001 Tax Cut Debate
- Estate Tax Preserved: Victory for America's Charities. Although both the House and the Senate (58-33) passed the $1.35 trillion tax bill, the tax cuts, including the repeal of the estate tax, will only be in effect until December 31, 2010. (5/26/01)
- S. Amdt. 781 - Estate Tax Reform Amendment proposed by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) (5/22/01)

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Estate Tax Data & Terminology

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation data and reports on the estate tax and OMB Watch explanations of key elements of the estate tax policy.

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Calculating the Estate Tax

The following provides a general overview of how the federal government calculates an estate’s tax liability and the many options the tax code provides for reducing an estate’s overall tax liability. This information is intended to serve as an introduction to the estate tax and should not be considered as legal or financial advice.

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What Are Marginal Tax Rates?

Debates over federal tax policy can be complicated enough. This explanation of "marginal tax rates" tries to sort through one element of taxes that is often used to exaggerate tax rates. Marginal tax rates are the set percentage rates that kick in at different income levels, as opposed to the actual overall percentage of taxes that are paid on income. Marginal Tax Rate Single Filer Income 15 % Less than $26,250 28 % $26,251 - 63,550 31 % $63,551 - 132,600 36 % $132,601 - 288,350 39.6 % More than $288,351

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Americans for a Fair Estate Tax

OMB Watch is a member of the Americans for a Fair Estate Tax coalition. Please visit the coalition website or click on a category to the left for more information on the estate tax.

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A Primer on the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)

What is the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)?

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FIRST THINGS FIRST!--Before the Tax Cuts

Are any efforts being made to at least postpone President Bush's phased in tax cuts given the events of September 11, 2001, the costs of the war effort, and the economic recession? Sen. Jan Schakowsky is one of the few in Congress who have publicly called for meeting other domestic needs before the tax cuts go into effect. She introduced legislation on October 2, 2001, to do just that.

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Daschle's Speech, Fiscal Responsibility and Tax Cuts

Senate Majority Leader outlined the country's urgent domestic and military priorities and compared the pre-tax cut possibilities for domestic investment with the current post-tax cut reality's "unnecessary fiscal bind," but he did not directly call for a delay in the tax cut as a solution to this fiscal conservative's dilemma.

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New Priorities and Future Tax Cuts

Kennedy, Daschle and their Republican counterparts have made clear over the last 4 months that the nation is now facing new problems (on top of existing problems) and we cannot afford a debate over semantics. Instead, we must address the problems laid out by Daschle and Kennedy over the last 2 weeks and by the President in his State of the Union address next week.

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