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

Dear Commissioner Everson

Aug 3, 2006 by Craig Jennings

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) has written a letter IRS Commissioner Everson to perform a cost-benefit analysis of estate tax auditors. Following up on a story in The New York Times, Dodd is concerned that plans to cut estate tax auditors - a group that is considered the most productive at the IRS in terms of revenue collected per hour of work - was politically motivated.

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Bush, Blacks, and the Estate Tax

Aug 2, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

Fantastic op-ed article from William Spriggs, chairman of the economics department at Howard University and former executive director at the National Urban League, on the chutzpah President Bush displayed urging help in repealing the estate tax in front of the NAACP. Spriggs finds Bush's tactics insulting, and pulls no punches in suggesting so:

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The Mystery Deepens

Aug 2, 2006 by Craig Jennings

Adam wondered last week why Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) is so fanatical about passing an estate tax cut. I have to admit: I, too, am intrigued as to why after a couple of failed attempts to get that dastardly thing passed Frist keeps banging his head against the wall. This AP story, however, only intensifies the mystery. Why slash the estate tax when you can get around it by "donating" it to yourself? Frist and his wife are the sole trustees in charge of a family foundation bearing the senator's name, according to Internal Revenue Service forms.

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Tax Cheats Cost Treasury $70 Billion a Year

Aug 1, 2006 by Matthew Madia

So here's something to help defray the federal budget deficit a bit: make people who owe taxes actually pay those taxes. Sen. Carl Levin's (D-MI) staff conducted an investigation into off-shore tax havens. His minority report, which was adopted by the full Senate Permanent Investigations subcommittee, finds that superrich tax cheats are gaming the system to the tune of $70 billion per year. David Cay Johnston reporting in The New York Times:

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Reps. Oppose Reduction of IRS Estate Tax Attorneys

Jul 31, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

Following up on reports that the IRS plans to eliminate almost half of its estate and gift tax audit team, Chief IRS overseer and all-around good guy Rep.

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Minimum Wage and The Estate Tax: Who Benefits?

Jul 31, 2006 by Craig Jennings

Joel Friedman and Aviva Aron-Dine at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities have put together a great article comparing the benefits of a minimum wage hike and a reduction of the estate tax. [The Economic Policy Institute] estimates that the average yearly wage increase for the 6.6 million workers who would benefit directly from the minimum wage change would total about $1,200. [...]

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Estate Tax Blackmail (AKA "Minimum Wage Hike Hostage-Taking")

Jul 31, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

The New York Times editorial page gets it:

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'Trifecta' Passed

Jul 31, 2006 by Craig Jennings

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, the House passed, by a margin of 230 to 180, a collection of tax cuts (AKA "extenders"), an estate tax cut, and a minimum wage increase from $5.15 to $7.25. Known as the "trifecta", the bill is now in the lap of the Senate as the House voted and quickly left town for its August recess. The question now is: Are the "sweeteners" in this bill going to cause enough Democrats to jump ship and vote for an estate tax gutting? From the Washington Post:

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They're Going to do What?

Jul 28, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

Looks like the GOP leadership in Congress is regrouping to try yet another strategy to pass an estate tax reduction. From CQ (sub. required). House GOP leaders have come up with a new strategy to push a permanent estate tax reduction through Congress by tying it to a minimum wage increase and extension of expiring tax breaks.

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Pension Conference Meeting Gets Nasty

Jul 28, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

The question of whether the Senate will return to consider the estate tax again this year is intimately connected to the fate of the pension conference report. It appears meeting of the pension conference committee last night was tense and saw lawmakers expressing their frustrations with the current situation. According to media reports, a number of members present were quite forthright in their unhappiness about the House boycott of the meeting and recent events.

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