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The Level of Taxes in the United States, 1940-1997
No Description Available.
Social Security Taxes: Where Do Surplus Taxes Go and How Are They Used?
The costs of the Social Security program, both its benefits and administrative expenses, are financed by a tax on wages and self-employment income. Commonly referred to as FICA and SECA taxes (because they are levied under the Federal Insurance and Self-Employment Contributions Acts), these taxes flow each day into thousands of depository accounts maintained by the government with financial institutions across the country. Along with many other forms of revenues, these Social Security taxes become part of the government’s operating cash pool, or what is more commonly referred to as the U.S. treasury. In effect, once these taxes are received, they become indistinguishable from other monies the government takes in.
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit and the 105th Congress
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) was initiated in the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-188). It is a temporary measure intended to encourage for-profit employers to hire members of specifically designated groups thought to experience recurring problems in the labor market. This document describes the WOTC and identifies issues for members of the 105th Congress.
Revenue Legislation in the Congressional Budget Process
Most of the laws establishing the federal government's revenue sources are permanent and continue year after year without any additional legislative action. Congress, however, typically enacts revenue legislation, changing some portion of the existing tax system, every year. Revenue legislation may include changes to individual and corporate income taxes, social insurance taxes, excise taxes, or tariffs and duties. Congressional consideration of revenue legislation is governed by various constitutional provisions and procedural rules.
Lobbying Regulations on Non-Profit Organizations
This report is intended to provide a brief overview of the various potential restrictions, rules or regulations upon lobbying activities of non-profit organizations.
Lobbying Regulations on Non-Profit Organizations
This report is intended to provide a brief overview of the various potential restrictions, rules or regulations upon lobbying activities of non-profit organizations.
Tax Issues: National Public Opinion
This report provides a sample of public opinion questions concerning the current tax system, the Internal Revenue Service, and proposals for tax reform. It will be updated as new poll results become available. The report is for the use of Members as they consider legislation currently before the 105 Congress.
Tax Issues: National Public Opinion
No Description Available.
Marriage Penalty Tax Relief: The Gramm Amendment
No Description Available.
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Legislative Issues in the 105th Congress
No Description Available.
Taxpayer Protections in the IRS Restructuring Bill: Attorneys' Fees and Damages for IRS Abuses
No Description Available.
Taxpayer Protections in the Proposed IRS Restructuring Act: Burden of Proof
No Description Available.
Transportation Fuel Taxes, Legislative Issues, and the Transportation Equity Act
In reauthorizing federal surface transportation programs this year (P .L 105-178), Congress has modified the attributes of some of the transportation fuel excise taxes that fluid. those programs and others. Since the federal government first started taxing transportation fuels, the issue of how the revenues should be used has played a major role in determining whether and which transportation fuels should be taxed; and by how much. Congress changed several aspects of transportation fuel taxation in 1997, most notably redirecting revenues from deficit reduction to the trust funds established for transportation-related projects This report provides the context for federal excise taxes on transportation fuels describes recent developments, and outlines the structure of those taxes on the major fuels with respect to levels, disposition of revenues, effective dates, and expiration dates. This report will be updated as legislative activity warrants.
PILT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes): Somewhat Simplified
Under current federal law, local governments are compensated through various programs for losses to their tax bases due to the presence of most federally owned land. Some of these programs are run by specific agencies, and apply only to that agency's land. The most widely applicable program, while run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), applies to many types of federally owned land, and is called "Payments in Lieu of Taxes" or PILT. The level of payments is calculated under a complex formula.
Individual Capital Gains Income: Legislative History
Since the enactment of the individual income tax in 1913, the appropriate taxation of capital gains income has been a perennial topic of debate in Congress. Almost immediately after the passage of the Revenue Act of 1913, legislative steps were initiated to change and modify the tax treatment of capital gains and losses. This report discusses different tax treatments and revenue acts since 1913. Updated June 29, 1998
IRS Reform: Innocent Spouse Rule
Married couples filing joint tax returns are liable individually and as a couple for all taxes due on the return with a limited exemption for innocent spouses. This report discusses joint and several liability, which has been the subject of much criticism and calls for reform or elimination.
IRS Reform: Innocent Spouse Rule
Married couples filing joint tax returns are liable individually and as a couple for all taxes due on the return with a limited exemption for innocent spouses. This report discusses joint and several liability, which has been the subject of much criticism and calls for reform or elimination.
Major Tax Issues in the 105th Congress: A Summary
Taxes are again a focus of policy debate in during the first part of 1998. Many in Congress favor a tax cut, although the size of a possible cut is under discussion. Another issue is whether a tax cut should be offset by spending cuts and revenue raisers or instead financed by the expected budget surpluses -- in effect returning the surpluses to taxpayers in a manner similar to a rebate.
Budget Surpluses: Economic Effects of Debt Repayment, Tax Cuts, or Spending - An Overview
Updated projections released on July 15 by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) indicate budget surpluses rising from $63 billion (0.9% of GDP) in FY1998 to more than $100 billion (1.3% to 1.5% of GDP) from FY2002 through FY2005 and over $200 billion (1.8% to 1.9%) from FY2006 through FY2008.1
Tax Code Termination Act: A Fact Sheet
This report discusses the Tax Code Termination Act, which would “sunset” (repeal) the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 on December 31, 2002 and would require that any new federal tax system that is adopted be approved not later than July 4, 2002.
Tax Code Termination Act: A Fact Sheet
No Description Available.
Internet Tax Bills in the 105th Congress
This report tracks the evolution and content of the Internet tax freedom bills. In general, the bills would impose a federal moratorium on the ability of state and local governments to impose taxes on certain aspects of the Internet and would establish a temporary federal commission to study selected issues and make policy recommendations.
Internet Tax Bills in the 105th Congress
"This report tracks the evolution and content of the Internet tax freedom bills" (p. i).
Short-Run Macroeconomic Effects of Fundamental Tax Reform
No Description Available.
Global Climate Change: The Energy Tax Incentives in the President's FY2000 Budget
This report discusses the FY2000 budget, which includes several energy tax incentives intended to reduce greenhouse gasses linked to possible global warming.
Excise Taxes on Alcohol, Tobacco, and Gasoline: History and Inflation-Adjusted Rates
This report provides inflation-adjusted excise tax rates for alcohol, tobacco, and gasoline products. The base for computation is November 1951. All of the above cited commodities had rate increases effective for that date under the Revenue Act of 1951. The adjustments show what the tax rates would be in 1999 if they had been increased to reflect inflation
Alcohol Fuels Tax Incentive
This report discusses federal tax subsidies for alcohol transportation fuels, as well as legislative actions underway to repeal, extend, or reduce them.
Capital Gains Taxes: An Overview
The capital gains tax has been a tax cut target since the 1986 Tax Reform Act treated capital gains as ordinary income. An argument for lower capital gains taxes is reduction of the lock-in effect. Some also believe that lower capital gains taxes will cost little compared to the benefits they bring and that lower taxes induce additional economic growth, although the magnitude of these potential effects is in some dispute. Others criticize lower capital gains taxes as benefitting higher income individuals and express concerns about the budget effects, particularly in future years. Another criticism of lower rates is the possible role of a larger capital gains tax differential in encouraging tax sheltering activities and adding complexity to the tax law.
Capital Gains Taxes: Distributional Effects
This report presents several different measures of the distribution of the capital gains tax are presented. These measures examine the absolute and relative distribution across income classes, the effects on the distribution of taxes, and the proportion of the population affected by the tax.
Energy Tax Policy: An Economic Analysis
The report provides background on the theory and application of tax policy as it relates to the energy sector, particularly with respect to the theory of market failure in the energy sector and the suggested policy remedies. This background provides a context for understanding how current or proposed energy tax policy may affect other policy objectives or be affected by such objectives.
The Level of Taxes in the United States, 1941-1999
No Description Available.
Recent Trends in the Federal Tax Burden
No Description Available.
Transportation Fuel Taxes: Impacts of a Repeal or Moratorium
Steep increases in the prices of gasoline, diesel, and other transportation fuels have prompted some Members of Congress to seek to ease the effects on households and businesses. Interest has focused on possible repeal or suspension of the levying of all or part of the federal excise taxes on those fuels. Current market conditions and the small amount of tax relief incorporated in most proposals, however, raise uncertainty as to whether prices to individuals and businesses would fall and whether any price decline would be meaningful to consumers. A reduction in transportation fuel taxes would result in a decrease in spending for transportation trust-fund-supported federal programs, unless Congress designated alternate sources of funding for these programs. As a result of the structure of the federal programs the effects of a fuel tax repeal on federal transportation programs would not necessarily be immediate, but depending on the length/scope of the repeal or suspension, they could be substantial.
The Federal Excise Tax on Gasoline and the Highway Trust Fund: A Short History
Excise taxes have long been a part of our country's revenue history. In the field of gasoline taxation, the states led the way with Oregon enacting the first tax on motor fuels in 1919. By 1932, all states and the District of Columbia had followed suit with tax rates that ranged between two and seven cents per gallon. The federal government first imposed its excise tax on gasoline at a one cent per gallon rate in 1932. The gas tax was enacted to correct a federal budgetary imbalance.
Social Security Taxes: Where Do Surplus Taxes Go and How Are They Used?
No Description Available.
Conservation Reserve Payments and Self-Employment Taxes
Farmers enrolling their land in the Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) receive payments for refraining from farming their property and for engaging in certain conservation practices mandated by the Department of Agriculture. These payments are described in the contract with the Department of Agriculture as "rental payments." Farmers would like to treat the income as "rental income" because it would not be subject to self-employment taxes, but the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) insists that under certain conditions, the payments are income from the trade or business of farming and thus subject to self-employment taxes.
Recent Tax Changes Affecting Installment Sales
On December 17, 1999, President Clinton signed the Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (H.R. 1180; P.L. 106-170). This Act contained revenue provisions extending several popular tax benefits such as the work opportunity tax credit, the welfare to work tax credit, and the applicability of the nonrefundable personal tax credits to the individual alternative minimum tax. To pay for the extension of these tax benefits the Act also included several tax changes that increased revenue. Among these revenue offset provisions was a modification and limitation on the use of the installment method of reporting asset sales for taxpayers who normally use the accrual method of accounting.
Retirement Plans with Individual Accounts: Federal Rules and Limits
No Description Available.
Fact Sheet on Congressional Tax Proposals
A general tax cut (H.R. 2488), costing $792 billion over 10 years, was vetoed in September 1999. A more narrowly focused bill (H.R. 1180) extending certain expiring provisions was adopted in December. Several tax proposals have been or are likely to be considered in 2000. The largest of these was marriage penalty legislation (H.R. 6 and S. 2346). Tax provisions are also included in health care legislation and minimum wage legislation; the latter passed the House on March 9 and included distressed communities legislation and a repeal of the installment sales provision included in the extenders bill. A number of separate tax bills are also under consideration. The general tax cut proposal included across-the-board tax cuts, benefits for married couples, phase-out of the alternative minimum tax, a reduction in capital gains taxes, a phase-out of the estate tax and provisions relating to education and health.
527 Organizations: How the Differences in Tax and Election Laws Permit Certain Organizations to Engage in Issue Advocacy without Public Disclosure and Proposals for Change
This report compares the tax and election laws relating to political organizations and political committees in an attempt to highlight the differences between them, and discusses some of the proposals in the 106th Congress to require additional reporting by organizations engaging in political activities. This report does not address the taxation of other tax-exempt organizations making political expenditures taxable under IRC § 527. The report will be updated as new proposals are reported.
The Marriage Tax Penalty: An Overview of the Issues
No Description Available.
Value-Added Tax as a New Revenue Source
Some Members of Congress have expressed interest in the feasibility of using a value-added tax (VAT) to either replace all or part of the income tax or finance health care reform. A VAT is imposed at all levels of production on the differences between firms' sales and their purchases from all other firms. Policymakers may be interested in the following aspects of a VAT: revenue yield, international comparison of composition of taxes, vertical equity, neutrality, inflation, balance-of-trade, national saving, administrative cost, intergovernmental relations, size of government, and public opinion.
Marriage Tax Penalties: Legislative Proposals in the 106th Congress
No Description Available.
The Earned Income Tax Credit: Current Issues and Benefit Amounts
The earned income tax credit (EITC), established in the tax code in 1975, offers cash aid to working parents with relatively low incomes who care for dependent children. The EITC is the only federal cash aid available to all working poor families with children. For eligible filers with income tax liability, the EITC reduces their taxes.
Internet Tax Legislation: Distinguishing Issues
No Description Available.
527 Organizations: How the Differences in Tax and Election Laws Permit Certain Organizations to Engage in Issue Advocacy without Public Disclosure and Proposals for Change
Virtually all political organizations are "section 527" political organizations, which means that they are tax-exempt. 527 organizations are created to influence the election or defeat of public officials. This report compares the tax and election laws relating to political organizations and political committees prior to the enactment of P.L. 106-230 in an attempt to highlight the differences between them, and discusses some of the proposals in the 106th Congress to require additional reporting by organizations engaging in political activities. This report does not address the taxation of other tax-exempt organizations making political expenditures taxable under IRC § 527.
527 Organizations: How the Differences in Tax and Election Laws Permit Certain Organizations to Engage in Issue Advocacy without Public Disclosure and Proposals for Change
Virtually all political organizations are "section 527" political organizations, which means that they are tax-exempt. 527 organizations are created to influence the election or defeat of public officials. This report compares the tax and election laws relating to political organizations and political committees prior to the enactment of P.L. 106-230 in an attempt to highlight the differences between them, and discusses some of the proposals in the 106th Congress to require additional reporting by organizations engaging in political activities. This report does not address the taxation of other tax-exempt organizations making political expenditures taxable under IRC § 527.
527 Organizations: How the Differences in Tax and Election Laws Permit Certain Organizations to Engage in Issue Advocacy without Public Disclosure and Proposals for Change
This report compares the tax and election laws relating to political organizations and political committees prior to the enactment of P.L. 106-230 in an attempt to highlight the differences between them, and discusses some of the proposals in the 106th Congress to require additional reporting by organizations engaging in political activities. This report does not address the taxation of other tax-exempt organizations making political expenditures taxable under IRC § 527. For developments after the enactment of P.L. 106-230, please see CRS Report RS20650, 527 Organizations: Reporting Requirements Imposed on Political Organizations after the Enactment of P.L. 106-230.
Tax Benefits for Education in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997: New Legislative Developments
No Description Available.
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Issues, Proposed Expansion, and Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs)
No Description Available.
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