Congressional Research Service Reports - 234 Matching Results

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Section 179 and Bonus Depreciation Expensing Allowances: Current Law, Legislative Proposals in the 112th Congress, and Economic Effects

Description: This report examines the current status, legislative history, and economic effects of the two expensing allowances (Section 179 and Bonus Depreciation Allowance) and also discusses initiatives in the 112th Congress to modify them. Expensing is the most accelerated form of depreciation for tax purposes. Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) allows a taxpayer to expense up to $125,000 of the total cost of new and used qualified depreciable assets it buys and places in service in 2012, wi… more
Date: September 10, 2012
Creator: Guenther, Gary
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Corporate Income Tax System: Overview and Options for Reform

Description: This report (1) briefly reviews the current U.S. corporate tax system; (2) discusses economic factors that may be considered in the corporate tax reform debate; and (3) presents corporate tax reform policy options, including a brief discussion of current corporate tax reform proposals.
Date: September 13, 2012
Creator: Keightley, Mark P. & Sherlock, Molly F.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Taxation of Unemployment Benefits

Description: Unemployment compensation (UC) benefits have been fully subject to the federal income tax since the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-514). Individuals who receive UC benefits during a year may elect to have the federal (and in some cases state) income tax withheld from their benefits. This report provides an overview of the taxation of UC benefits and legislation related to taxing UC benefits.
Date: September 13, 2012
Creator: Whittaker, Julie M.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Taxes and the Economy: An Economic Analysis of the Top Tax Rates Since 1945

Description: This report attempts to clarify whether or not there is an association between the tax rates of the highest income taxpayers and economic growth. Data is analyzed to illustrate the association between the tax rates of the highest income taxpayers and measures of economic growth.
Date: September 14, 2012
Creator: Hungerford, Thomas L.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy Tax Policy: Issues in the 112th Congress

Description: The economic rationale for interventions in energy markets helps inform the debate surrounding energy tax policy. This report begins by providing background on the economic rationale for energy market interventions, highlighting various market failures. After identifying possible market failures in the production and consumption of energy, possible interventions are discussed. The report concludes with an analysis of energy tax policy as it stands at the start of the 112th Congress.
Date: September 24, 2012
Creator: Sherlock, Molly F.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Higher Education Tax Benefits: Brief Overview and Budgetary Effects

Description: This report provides a brief overview of the higher education tax benefits that are currently available to students and their families. The report contrasts higher education tax benefits with traditional student aid, presents a brief history of higher education tax policy over the past 60 years, summarizes key features of the available tax benefits, and provides JCT estimates of revenue losses resulting from individual tax provisions.
Date: September 25, 2012
Creator: Crandall-Hollick, Margot L.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Residential Energy Tax Credits: Overview and Analysis

Description: This report explores one policy option for promoting residential energy efficiency: tax credits. It begins by providing an overview of the current residential energy-efficiency tax credits. The report then goes on to provide an economic rationale for residential energy-efficiency tax incentives, introducing the concept of "market failures" and "market barriers" which may lead to suboptimal or "economically inefficient" investment in energy-efficiency technologies. The final sections of this re… more
Date: September 25, 2012
Creator: Crandall-Hollick, Margot L. & Sherlock, Molly F.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Constitutionality of Retroactive Tax Legislation

Description: Report that examines the constitutional provisions that might be implicated by retroactive tax legislation, including legislation that seems intended to punish past behavior.
Date: October 25, 2012
Creator: Lunder, Erika K.; Meltz, Robert & Thomas, Kenneth R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Tax Reform: An Overview of Proposals in the 112th Congress

Description: This report gives an overview of tax reform issues. The President and leading members of Congress have stated that fundamental tax reform is a major policy objective for the 112th Congress. Some Members have said that fundamental tax reform is needed in order to raise a large amount of additional revenue, which is necessary to reduce high forecast budget deficits and the sharply rising national debt. Congressional interest has been expressed in both a major overhaul of the U.S. tax system and t… more
Date: October 26, 2012
Creator: Bickley, James M.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Tax Provisions to Assist with Disaster Recovery

Description: Report that provides a basic overview of existing, permanent provisions that benefit victims of disasters, as well as past, targeted legislative responses to particular disasters. The relief is discussed without examining either the qualifications for or the limitation on claiming the provisions' benefits.
Date: November 29, 2012
Creator: Lunder, Erika K.; Pettit, Carol A. & Teefy, Jennifer
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Taxes and the Economy: An Economic Analysis of the Top Tax Rates Since 1945 (Updated)

Description: Income tax rates are at the center of many recent policy debates over taxes. Some policymakers argue that raising tax rates, especially on higher income taxpayers, to increase tax revenues is part of the solution for long-term debt reduction. This report examines the top tax rates since 1945 and analyzes the ways in which tax rates affect economic growth.
Date: December 12, 2012
Creator: Hungerford, Thomas L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Overview of the Tax Provisions in the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012

Description: This report provides an overview of the tax provisions (Titles I-IV and Title X of P.L. 112-240) included in the "fiscal cliff deal," including the permanent extension and modification of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, often referred to collectively as the "Bush-era tax cuts"; the temporary extension of certain tax provisions originally included as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA; P.L. 111-5), often referred to as the "2009 tax cuts"; the permanent extension of the alterna… more
Date: January 10, 2013
Creator: Crandall-Hollick, Margot L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Tax Havens: International Tax Avoidance and Evasion

Description: The first section of this report reviews what countries might be considered tax havens, including a discussion of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) initiatives and lists. The next two sections discuss, in turn, the corporate profit-shifting mechanisms and evidence on the existence and magnitude of profit shifting activity. The following two sections provide the same analysis for individual tax evasion. The report concludes with overviews of alternative policy opti… more
Date: January 23, 2013
Creator: Gravelle, Jane G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Taxation of Unemployment Benefits

Description: Unemployment compensation (UC) benefits have been fully subject to the federal income tax since the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-514). Individuals who receive UC benefits during a year may elect to have the federal (and in some cases state) income tax withheld from their benefits. This report provides an overview of the taxation of UC benefits and legislation related to taxing UC benefits.
Date: February 7, 2013
Creator: Whittaker, Julie M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Introduction to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

Description: This report discusses the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program, which is one of the federal government’s primary policy tools for encouraging the development and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing. These non-refundable federal housing tax credits are awarded to developers of qualified rental projects via a competitive application process administered by state housing finance authorities.
Date: February 12, 2013
Creator: Keightley, Mark P.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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"Amazon Laws" and Taxation of Internet Sales: Constitutional Analysis

Description: This report focuses on the ways in which the states' efforts to impose requirements on out-of-state retailers are limited by the Constitution. The report discusses recent state legislation as well as legislation introduced in the two most recent Congresses.
Date: April 3, 2013
Creator: Lunder, Erika K. & Pettit, Carol A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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State Taxation of Internet Transactions

Description: This report intends to clarify significant issues in the remote sales tax collection debate, beginning with a description of state and local sales and use taxes. Congress has a role in this issue because interstate commerce, in most cases, falls under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
Date: April 19, 2013
Creator: Maguire, Steven
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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