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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Bush To Consider Raising SS Income Cap

Feb 16, 2005 by Guest Blogger

As reported in the Washington Post this morning by Dan Froomkin, President Bush has said for the first time he would consider raising the cap on income subject to payroll taxes. The president has previously stated firm opposition to raising the tax rate but has remained silent on the cap on social security payroll taxes, currently set at $90,000. The president's announcement opens the door to the possibility of dramatically increasing Social Security revenues. Estimates by Social Security actuaries show by lifting the cap completely, it may be possible to close the entire funding gap in the program over the next 75 years.

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New OMB Watch Report on FY06 Budget

Feb 16, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

OMB Watch has recently released this new report on the FY06 Budget from the nonprofit perspective. The report outlines some of the misleading aspects of the president's budget and details the more egregious proposals and cuts to programs. Bush FY06 Budget Impact from the Nonprofit Perspective (.pdf)

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Senate Republicans Voice Concerns Over Budget

Feb 14, 2005 by Guest Blogger

As Senate Budget Committee chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) noted publicly last week, the release of the President's austere budget not only has Democrats up in arms, but also is creating "some significant angst among my colleagues" on the other side of the aisle. Senator Voinovich (R-OH) in particular has come out against the fiscal irresponsibility of Bush's economic agenda, announcing last week that he will oppose efforts to make the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent. Voinovich said he will vote against the President's budget if necessary, and cited having possible support among other Republican colleagues of his in the so-called "Centrist Coalition," including Senators Collins (R-ME), Snowe (R-ME), and Bennett R-UT). See this Toledo Blade article for additional information. In related news, an article in today's Washington Post reports other lawmakers, including Senator McCain (R-AZ), have been raising concerns regarding the long term costs of some of Bush's fiscal policies. The article hints that people eyeing the White House in 2008 have reason to be worried since budget costs are expected to drastically increase in the coming years.

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New OMB Watch Report Views Budget from Nonprofit Perspective

The President’s budget that was released on Feb. 7 is not just austere; it is also frighteningly bleak for nonprofit groups and the people and causes they serve. The President has manufactured a fiscal crisis with massive tax cuts, mainly targeted to the wealthy, that has resulted in federal revenues being reduced to the lowest levels since the 1950s as a percentage of our economy. Cutting revenue to that level means there is drastically less money to fund programs that address community and human need problems, a core function of many nonprofits.

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Center for American Progress Progressive Tax Plan

On Jan. 31, the Center for American Progress unveiled its progressive tax plan, titled “A Fair and Simple Tax System for Our Future: A Progressive Approach to Tax Reform.” This comprehensive plan provides an alternate vision for tax reform based on the themes of fairness, simplicity, and opportunity through tax policy. The release of this plan is part of a broader Progressive Policy Series the Center is publishing aimed at outlining responsible policy proposals and proposing steps lawmakers can take to enact them.

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Two New Fact Sheets on the Estate Tax

Americans for a Fair Estate Tax has just released two new fact sheets on the estate tax. The first deals with the impact of repeal on nonprofits and charitible giving and the second with the effect of the estate tax on family farms and small businesses. The Adverse Impact Estate Tax Repeal Has On Nonprofits (.pdf) The Estate Tax and Its Impact on Farms and Small Businesses (.pdf)

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Center For American Progress Unveils Progressive Tax Plan

Feb 2, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Center for American Progress has launched a progressive priorities project aimed at providing a positive vision for progressive lawmakers that is supported by a series of innovative policy ideas. The Center is authoring approximately a dozen reports over roughly a two month period that include broad policy recommendations as well as specific steps lawmakers can take in order to achieve these policy goals. On Monday the Center released one paper in this series about tax reform, called "A Fair and Simple Tax System for our Future: A Progressive Approach." The paper outlines policy necessary to restore a fair, simple, and pro-opportunity tax system, and serves as a responsible and progressive alternative to the tax policies currently embraced by the Bush administration.

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Sen. Nelson to Cosponsor Estate Tax Repeal Legislation

Jan 28, 2005 by Guest Blogger

According to the news source Congress Daily, advocates of estate tax repeal have enlisted the help of Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), to provide support for their stance on this issue. Nelson will be the Democratic cosponser of a bill aimed at repeal, along with Senator Kyl (R-AZ), who has sponsored pro-repeal measures in the past. The estate tax is a progressive tax that affects the wealthiest 2 percent of the population in America. It is currently scheduled to phase out through 2009, not exist in 2010, and then return in 2011. The estate tax provides an important source of revenue; if repealed the government would lose almost a trillion dollars in revenue over the next twenty years. Bill Nelson is one of seven democratic Senators who has voted in favor of repeal in the past. The others are Baucus (MT), Bayh (IN), Landrieu (LA), Lincoln (AR), Ben Nelson (NE), and Wyden (OR). While these Senators did vote for repeal in 2001, the fiscal health of our country is different today than it was four years ago. The CBO recently projected the budget deficit in 2005 to be around $427 billion. Our economy is not conducive right now to policies that will gut revenue even more. The above-listed Senators who have voted for repeal in the past need to recognize that our economy cannot handle an even larger squeeze on the budget right now. Voting to cut that much federal revenue annually would be irresponsible in a time when we are already expecting to see very limited domestic discretionary spending, as well as the extension of Bush's first term tax cuts. Repealing the estate tax would further cut taxes for the wealthiest individuals in this country, and make it more difficult for the government to be able to fully fund social programs that a large percentage of the population rely on to get by.

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The Truth Behind CBO's Ten Year Deficit Projections

Jan 26, 2005 by Guest Blogger

In September of 2004 the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated 10 year deficit levels to be $2.3 trillion. Their recent Budget and Economic Outlook shows this 10 year deficit projection improving, as they now predict deficit levels to be $1.4 trillion over the next ten years. These numbers are misleading. The reason for this improvement is because in their previous report, the CBO included $115 billion per year through 2014 for supplemental defense expenditures in Iraq and Afghanistan. In their current estimates, the CBO includes no supplemental funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. This discrepancy exists because CBO is required by law to base their projections only on current law. The CBO report acknowledges this and includes adjustments to their previous projections in order to have a fair baseline to compare the ten year deficit. When this adjustment is made, CBO reports that ten year deficit levels will actually increase by half a trillion dollars, or 0.3 percent of GDP; three-quarters of this increase is due to legislation surrounding the extension of tax cuts. Similarly, CBO projections fail to take into account some costly policies that are widely expected to become law in the near future. These include:

reforming the Alternative Minimum Tax;

extending expiring tax cuts; and

creating private accounts in social security. Given the potential costs of the policy issues listed above, as well as projected increases in health care costs, it would be foolish and irresponsible for policymakers to think they can sufficiently meet those priorities while attempting to make Bush's tax cuts permanent. To do so would explode deficits far beyond any projections we are seeing today. For good articles on the Budget and Economic Outlook released yesterday, read this article in the Washington Post and this article from Bloomberg news. To read more about why CBO projections tend to underestimate the real picture of the deficit read this analysis by economist John Irons. Written last fall, Dr. Irons explains his take on why ten year budget deficits will most likely be much greater than any predictions from the CBO.

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Tax Issues to be Addressed in Congressional Agenda

Jan 24, 2005 by Guest Blogger

BNA News Services reported today that a package of ten bills reflecting the Senate Republican agenda will most likely include a measure aimed at either repealing or reforming the estate tax. The measure is expected to be sponsored by Senator Kyl (R-AZ), who sponsored estate tax legislation in the the 108th Congress. His last measure aimed to both make estate tax repeal permanent, as well as accelerate full repeal to 2005 (full repeal is currently scheduled to take place for one year in 2010). The estate tax, which only affects the wealthiest 2 percent of the population, is the most progressive tax in place in America. Also on the Senate Republican agenda is making the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent. Some of the tax cuts are scheduled to expire in the upcoming years, and GOP leaders hope to make those cuts permanent during the 109th Congress. Chuck Collins, cofounder of the group Responsible Wealth, noted the "unseemliness of voting for tax cuts for the rich during a war." Lawmakers should note -- as they vote on provisions to spend more in both Iraq and Afghanistan -- whether or not this country can really afford to be making tax cuts permanent while both fighting a war and contemplating an expensive overhaul of Social Security.

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