All Tax VOX

With $2 trillion in Treasury bonds in tow, the Federal Reserve has a huge impact on the government's fiscal health: the Fed strengthens the government's position while increasing the risk of future increases in interest rates.

Simply bashing the IRS for its faults won’t help fix a troubled and often badly-managed agency, Gleckman argues.

There isn't much talk on Capitol Hill debating the merits of specific individual tax preferences. The different plans being circulated, however, would each have radically different outcomes, Gleckman says. Here's how they break down.

Artificially low interest rates have allowed the government to finance more than $1 trillion worth of deficits every year from 2009 to 2012. When interest rates do pick up, there may be a very big bill on the table to pay.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) could not only push forward a more fair, pro-growth tax code but also shrink the government's role in the economy, Marron says.

By forcing Congress to design fairer, more efficient alternate tax subsidies, the Baucus-Hatch 'blank slate' approach to tax reform could be revolutionary, Steuerle says.

On average, large US corporations paid a 16.6 percent federal tax rate in 2010 — far lower than the 35 percent statutory tax rate. Gleckman breaks down the Government Accountability Office's analysis of this trend.

A study by the National Academy of Sciences says that extending energy-related tax preferences would do little or nothing to reduce greenhouse gasses. 

Congress has been debating how to tax managers of private equity firms for a decade. But what if they aren't being taxed the right way in the first place?

Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Orrin hatch (R-Utah) are pushing forward a blank slate rewrite plan, but Gleckman says they are off target. Tax reform will come with a specific set of rates and limited preferences — not a blank slate, Gleckman argues.

For about 75,000 married same-sex couples, the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act could mean the IRS will hand out nearly $200 million in refunds, Burman says.

America's net debt will expand to almost 10 percent of GDP by 2023, while financial assets will grow twice as fast as the public debt. As the federal investment portfolio expands, the growing public debt is overstating the US' debt burden, Gleckman says.

The Social Security Disability Insurance program is critically important to people with disabilities, but it is struggling with a litany of administrative and financial problems — and even due to become insolvent by 2016, Gleckman says. He offers three possible reforms for the program.

As states reap in tax collections, governors and legislators face the question of how to manage the short-term windfall. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is pursuing targeted tax cuts in the hopes of reviving upstate businesses, is implementing the wrong policy, Rueben argues. 

Forcing foundations to pay excise taxes punishes organizations that see spikes in donations — making it difficult for foundations to pay out more money when society's needs are most pressing. Steuerle proposes reforming taxes to allow foundations to optimize their work.

The federal government has been borrowing rapidly to not only finance recent budget deficits but also make financial investments. These investments now total about $1.1 trillion, and the debt supporting Uncle Sam’s investment portfolio accounts for almost 10 percent of the $11.9 trillion in public debt.

If Congress is going to reform the tax code, it will take an enormous amount of hard work and a lot of luck. But right now, tax reform just can't catch a break. 

Is the concept of jointly filing federal tax returns outdated? A Yale professor thinks so, arguing that, in the 21st century, families no longer necessarily consist of a married man and woman with children. As the Supreme Court considers whether same-sex married couples should have the right to joint filing, Gleckman takes on her argument.

With a budget that is facing a $700 million shortfall, Kansas has set the stage for a perpetual budget crisis, Francis argues. Although lawmakers are trying to attract businesses to the state, the financial uncertainty and deficits Kansas will grapple with will undermine such efforts, he says.

Harris argues that changing deductions for mortgage interest and property tax payments may not bring home prices down, as some critics of tax reform have said, and makes the case for pushing a more efficient tax code forward.