All Tax VOX

Do deficits matter? It is an age-old question that’s going to get renewed attention in a Congress where Republicans have made no secret of their desire to cut government spending. Two tax experts take up the deficit debate. 

 On the first day of the new Congress, new and old tax laws are being calculated, implemented, and executed. Tax prep firms are ready and waiting to help tax filers while repealing the medical tax device remains on the agenda. 

Trans-Pacific partnership, or TPP, would be the largest trade deal in history representing several countries. But the TPP is not a good deal for most of us or, even for the inhabitants of developing nations. 

The past 12 months were a banner year for bad ideas and their perpetrators. We've picked out the worst top 10 ideas and hope history won't repeat itself for 2015. 

Lawmakers scuttled an effort to permanently extend a number of tax breaks—largely because many feared it would open the door to widespread use of refundable tax credits by undocumented immigrants covered by President Obama’s recent executive order. Is their concern justified?

Congress yesterday announced a $1.01 trillion deal but still will need a short-term extension to prevent a government shut-down. Meanwhile, congressional negotiators scramble to wrap up several policy disputes, approve or pass other bills, budget cuts, and more before the holidays. 

The House is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a $1.1 trillion spending bill expected to be released today. Meanwhile, the IRS oversight report is out and the Congress is about to pass the compromise spending bill. 

Many people with disabilities face financial challenges. To address this issue, Congress is on the verge of approving the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act that would create tax-free savings accounts to assist disabled people. However, it comes with its eligibility restrictions and cannot be a complete solution. 

Two provisions that are enormously important to low- and moderate-income households-the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are set to expire after 2017. They are relatively inexpensive ways to promote work and family, and Congress should make them permanent. 

The House may vote this week on a one-year retroactive tax break extension. As many as one in six taxpayers could be affected without an extension of the 60 or more tax breaks. 

Oil prices are dropping…fast. This may be good news for drivers but not so good for a handful of states that use energy tax revenue to help fund their budgets. 

US could reduce its contribution to global climate change by taxing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses and use the resulting revenue to reduce corporate income taxes. This carbon-corporate tax swap would make our economy bigger, cleaner, and more efficient. 

A year later, the Affordable Care Act's tax on medical devices is back under scrutiny. If Republicans can line up a significant number of Democrats to vote in favor of repealing the tax next year, they get an easy win and make the case that there is bipartisan opposition to the ACA. 

A popular Washington narrative is that President Obama will kill prospects for tax reform in 2015 if he grants legal status to undocumented immigrants. But even if Obama does nothing on this issue, the political headwinds against a tax code rewrite were already too strong. 

Congress needs to finance highway and transit projects but can’t agree on how. The traditional revenue source is the gas tax. Gas prices are at their lowest levels in years and dropping. Consumers would barely notice if they had to pay a bit more now at the pump. But a gas tax hike won't happen. 

On Election Day, voters proved once again that increasing the gas tax is a political loser. And that’s a problem.

Republicans had a very good day  in midterm elections yesterday. But can they translate their ballot-box success into a positive legislative agenda? Six things to watch. 

Taxes, spending, and deficits thus appear to be back to “normal.” If anything, fiscal policy in 2014 was slightly tighter than the average of the past four decades. But should we use the past 40 years as a benchmark for normal budget policy?

The IRS is taking a hard look at 'supersize' IRAs, or Mitt Romney-esque retirement accounts valued in the multimillions. According to regulators, the holders of these IRAs probably didn’t end up with huge accounts merely by making maximum contributions each year and investing wisely.

Washington is going through another one of its periodic calls for business tax reform. But new research shows just how hard it is to separate business taxation from the individual tax code. And it should serve as a warning to those who think Congress can enact corporate tax reform that ignores it.