Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/TheTaxPolicyCenter

Tax and fiscal policy will loom large in the next president's domestic policy agenda. Nearly all of the tax cuts enacted since 2001 expire at the end of 2010 and the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) threatens to ensnare tens of millions of Americans. While a permanent fix palatable to both political parties has proven elusive, both candidates have proposed major tax changes. This summary outlines our analysis of the 2008 presidential candidates' tax plans. The full length report is also available.

Tax and fiscal policy will loom large in the next president's domestic policy agenda. Nearly all of the tax cuts enacted since 2001 expire at the end of 2010 and the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) threatens to ensnare tens of millions of Americans. While a permanent fix palatable to both political parties has proven elusive, both candidates have proposed major tax changes. This report describes how we performed our modeling and analysis, outlines the major tax proposals, and discusses the implications of their policies for the revenue raised, taxpayer economic activity, and the distribution of the tax burden.

The early years of the 21st century have been marked by a major tax bill almost every year. This fact sheet looks at the impact of these laws on taxpayers, especially on who benefits and who doesn’t, and discusses some unfinished business, including the future of the estate tax and the individual alternative minimum tax.

Twenty years after enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, this conference reviewed the politics and economics that drove the 1986 act, discussed problems with the current tax law that create a need for another round of reform in the near future, and considered the possible shape and long-term viability of future tax reform.

The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, American Tax Policy Institute, and Tax Analysts cosponsored a conference entitled Taxing Capital Income: Do we? Should we? Can we? (Can we not?). The one-day conference brought together leading economists, lawyers and accountants from across the political spectrum to discuss issues surrounding the choice of income or consumption as a tax base. Sessions addressed each question in the title. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director of the Congressional Budget Office, presented the luncheon address, and a wrap-up panel featured Henry Aaron, Leonard Burman and Dan Halperin. Drafts of the conference papers are available at the ATPI website, http://www.americantaxpolicyinstitute.org/.

The Tax Policy Center held a forum on April 11, 2005, on the burden of complying with the tax law. David Wessel, senior economics correspondent of the Wall Street Journal, served as moderator for the panel. Eric Toder of the Urban Institute presented recent IRS estimates of the compliance costs of the individual income tax. Nina Olson, the IRS national taxpayer advocate, discussed her experiences helping taxpayers cope with the tax system. Lorrie Brown of the State of Washington Department of Revenue presented evidence on compliance costs with the Washington retail sales tax. A lively discussion followed the presentations.

This Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center forum discussed issues that the new tax reform commission will have to grapple with in setting forth proposals to advance tax reform. Pamela Olson of Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP and former Assistant Treasury Secretary for tax policy explained the goals of the tax system and presented some of the basic principles guiding tax reform, Gene Steuerle of the Urban Institute and the Tax Policy Center explained the need for reforming the tax policy process and William Gale of Brookings Institution and the Tax Policy Center discussed the question of whether to make tax cuts permanent or not.

Policymakers from across the political spectrum recognize that the federal tax system needs reform--the tax code is mind-numbingly complicated, the Alternative Minimum Tax is on its way to becoming the dominant income tax, and aggressive tax planning and sheltering have proliferated. This Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center forum featured distinguished scholars and a leading member of the House of Representatives exchanging new ideas for improving the tax system.

This Tax Policy Center forum featured senior fellow Rudy Penner presenting his report, "Searching for a Just Tax System". A panel discussion on tax fairness followed, moderated by Nada Eissa, of Georgetown Public Policy Institute, with Joseph Thorndike, of the Tax History Project, and Jeffrey Rohaly, of the Urban Institute and Tax Policy Center.

This Tax Policy Center forum featured New York Times reporter David Cay Johnston discussing his book, Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich--and Cheat Everybody Else. Commentary followed from Bruce Bartlett, senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, and John Buckley, democratic chief tax counsel at the House Ways and Means Committee, moderated by Len Burman, co-director of the Tax Policy Center.

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