All Tax VOX

The new rules for reporting capital gains is a laudable aim, but the IRS faces a number of challenges to make this initiative work.

A House subcommittee is reviewing dozens of expiring tax provisions. The political pressure to extend the subsidies en bloc is immense. 

Romney pays a much higher rate than the President, even though he makes far more money. Here's why.

The need for fundamental federal tax reform is critical.  Often overlooked, however, is the fact that any such reforms will also affect the tax and fiscal policies of state and local governments.

The mechanics of the House GOP's Small Business Tax Cut Act seem to fly in the face of what many in the party have been saying lately.

Letting the Bush/Obama tax cuts (including the payroll tax cut) fall off the cliff would increase taxes on an average American household by $3,000 in 2013 alone, likely wrecking a still-fragile economy.

A better answer would be to close the loopholes that help the wealthy avoid paying higher taxes, but some argue that a minimum tax like the Buffett rule might be a good start.

Our current insanely complex tax rules are made possible by technology. Yes, computer software makes filing easier, but that may be the problem.

Tax policy experts disagree on many things, including what the definition of 'rich' is. But they agree that imposing a minimum tax of any kind is an admission of policy failure.

One study predicts health care reform would add billions to the deficit, while another predicts just the opposite. Which is right?

The tax code is chock full of credits, deductions, deferrals, exclusions, exemptions, and preferential rates that, taken together, total almost $1.3 trillion per year. But that money isn't necessarily available simply through tax reform.

Two Ohio Members of Congress have introduced a bill to allow states to issue tax-exempt bonds to demolish buildings, which is a bad solution to a serious problem of urban development.

States are slowly enacting laws that would require online vendors to collect state and local taxes,  with mixed success. But the shift will benefit everyone and make tax laws fair.

It is the unfounded rumor that never dies: You will have to pay a 3.8 percent federal health care tax on the sale of your house. For all but a handful of taxpayers, this is not true.

Obama's leath-care reforms include both tax increases and tax cuts. Even if the controversial individual mandate is struck down, most of those tax changes would survive—unless, of course, the High Court kills the entire act.

The budget Paul Ryan released last week is, essentially, an effort to have low- and middle-class households bear the entire burden of closing the fiscal gap and bear the costs of financing an additional tax cut for high income households.

Reducing or eliminating state income tax is bad news for low-income families, who may end up paying higher taxes and losing critical safety net programs.

'Federal spending' figures are not reliable markers. In reality, the federal government spends about 30 percent more than it admits.

The tax cuts in Paul Ryan’s 2013 budget plan would result in huge benefits for high-income people and very modest—or no— benefits for low income working households. No surprise here.

Paul Ryan may not have intended it, but his 2013 budget is the strongest argument I’ve seen for why any serious fiscal plan must include new revenues.