Congressional Research Service Reports - 382 Matching Results

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Homeland Security: 9/11 Victim Relief Funds

Description: In the first days following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, an unprecedented number of Americans contributed over $2.7 billion in donations to assist in the relief of victims. According to a 2004 Rand Corporation study, that money amounted to only a modest share (7%) of the $38.1 billion “quantified benefits” provided to victims of the terrorist attacks. The Rand Study reported that payments worth $19.6 billion (51%) were disbursed by insurers and $15.8 billion (42%) were disbursed… more
Date: December 10, 2004
Creator: Wolfe, M. Ann
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)

Description: Recent changes in the Nation's tax laws have made Individual Retirement Accounts available to many people previously excluded. This report provides general information on IRAs including material explaining these recent changes and their consequences.
Date: June 28, 1983
Creator: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Higher Education Tax Credits: An Economic Analysis

Description: This report provides analysis of the education tax credit program in the context of issues facing Congress in regard to higher education. This report begins with a review of the economic rationale for subsidizing education, then describes federal subsidies for education in general and the education tax credits in particular. An analysis of the education credits follows and the report concludes with a discussion of education tax credit policy options.
Date: January 17, 2006
Creator: Jackson, Pamela J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Internal Revenue Service's Use of Private Debt Collection Agencies: Current Status and Issues for Congress

Description: Under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA, P.L. 108-357), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has acquired for the second time in its history the legal authority to hire private debt collection agencies (PCAs) to assist in the collection of certain individual tax debt. The grant of authority grew out of a proposal made by the Bush Administration in its budget request for the IRS in both FY2004 and FY2005. This report focuses on IRS’s current plan for hiring PCAs to collect delinquent in… more
Date: January 11, 2006
Creator: Guenther, Gary
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Tax Incentives for Retirement Savings

Description: This report discusses Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRA) and their tax incentives. Many workers covered by employer-sponsored retirement plans do not work long enough with one employer to be entitled to a pension. Others may be covered by a profit-sharing plan to which the employer may have little or no profits to contribute. Since these individuals were "covered" by a retirement plan, they were ineligible to make tax-deductible contributions to a tax-sheltered Individual Retirement Arran… more
Date: November 22, 1982
Creator: Schmitt, Ray
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Flat-Rate Tax Proposals

Description: In recent months there has been a growing congressional interest in the advantages and disadvantages of revamping our current tax system for a flat-rate tax method. Supporters of the new proposal argue that such a plan would promote productivity, simplify present IRS tax forms, save the public billions of dollars that presently go to tax-preparation professionals, and enhance Federal revenue by closing numerous tax loopholes and special deductions that are now enjoyed by relatively few. Opponen… more
Date: June 21, 1982
Creator: Esenwein, Gregg A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Introduction to the Design of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

Description: This report discusses the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), which is a federal provision that reduces the income tax liability of taxpayers claiming the credit. These taxpayers are typically investors in real estate development projects that have traded cash for the tax credits to support the production of affordable housing. The credit is intended to lower the financing costs of housing developments so that the rental prices of units can be lower than market rates, and thus, presumably, a… more
Date: February 24, 2006
Creator: Jackson, Pamela J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Internet Commerce and State Sales and Use Taxes

Description: State governments rely on sales and use taxes for approximately one-third (32.3%) of their total tax revenue – or approximately $174 billion in FY2000. Local governments derived 16.4% of their tax revenue or $51.6 billion from local sales and use taxes in FY1999. Both state and local sales taxes are collected by vendors at the time of transaction and are levied at a percentage of a product’s retail price. Alternatively, use taxes are not collected by vendors if they do not have nexus (loosely d… more
Date: January 18, 2002
Creator: Maguire, Steven
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Internet Commerce and State Sales and Use Taxes

Description: State governments rely on sales and use taxes for approximately one-third (32.3%) of their total tax revenue – or approximately $174 billion in FY2000. Local governments derived 16.4% of their tax revenue or $51.6 billion from local sales and use taxes in FY1999. Both state and local sales taxes are collected by vendors at the time of transaction and are levied at a percentage of a product’s retail price. Alternatively, use taxes are not collected by vendors if they do not have nexus (loosely d… more
Date: January 18, 2002
Creator: Maguire, Steven
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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State and Local Sales and Use Taxes and Internet Commerce

Description: In theory, state sales and use taxes are based on the destination principle, which prescribes that taxes should be paid where the consumption takes place. States are concerned because they anticipate gradually losing more tax revenue as the growth of Internet commerce allows more residents to buy products from vendors located out-of-state and evade use taxes. The size of the revenue loss from Internet commerce and subsequent tax evasion is uncertain. Congress is involved in this issue because c… more
Date: March 9, 2006
Creator: Maguire, Steven
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Disaster Tax Relief for the Midwest

Description: The Midwestern Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2008 is intended to assist with the recovery from the severe weather that affected the Midwest during the summer of 2008. The Jobs, Energy, Families, and Disaster Relief Act of 2008 includes some similar provisions, but these are not limited to the Midwest disaster. The disaster relief in the three bills is similar to that provided to assist with the recovery from the 2005 hurricanes and the 2007 Kansas tornadoes. This report broadly discusses the disas… more
Date: August 20, 2008
Creator: Lunder, Erika
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Taxes: A Description of Current Law

Description: This report contains an explanation of the major provisions of the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. The discussion divides the federal estate tax into three components: the gross estate, deductions from the gross estate, and computation of the tax, including allowable tax credits. The federal estate tax is computed through a series of adjustments and modifications of a tax base known as the "gross estate." Certain allowable deductions reduce the gross estate to the … more
Date: January 5, 2008
Creator: Luckey, John R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Brief Facts and Statistics

Description: This report provides facts and statistics about Social Security that are frequently requested by Members of Congress and their staffs. It includes information about Social Security taxes and benefits, the program's impact on its recipients' incomes, federal tax receipts, federal spending and the economy, administrative information, and selected facts about Medicare.
Date: January 26, 2006
Creator: Sidor, Gary
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Raising the Tax Rates on High-Income Taxpayers: Pros and Cons

Description: This report focuses on the debate over whether the top two marginal tax rates should be permitted to rise back to their 2001 levels, once the temporary tax provisions known as the "Bush tax cuts" expire on December 31, 2010. The report discusses arguments for and against raising the tax rates.
Date: November 5, 2010
Creator: Noto, Nonna A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Bush Tax Cuts and the Economy

Description: The George W. Bush Administration enacted a series of tax cuts through the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. This report examines these tax cuts within the context of the current and long-term economic environment.
Date: October 27, 2010
Creator: Hungerford, Thomas L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Bush Tax Cuts and the Economy

Description: The George W. Bush Administration enacted a series of tax cuts through the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. This report examines these tax cuts within the context of the current and long-term economic environment.
Date: November 10, 2010
Creator: Hungerford, Thomas L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Tax Issues and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: Legal Analysis of Payments and Tax Relief Policy Options

Description: This report will briefly discuss existing disaster-related tax provisions and their application to the recent Depewater Horizon oil rig explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The report then provides an analysis of the tax treatment of the BP payments to the individuals and businesses impacted by the oil spill as well as various policy options for providing tax relief to oil spill victims, highlighting the circumstantial differences between previous natural disasters and the … more
Date: October 14, 2010
Creator: Sherlock, Molly F.; Lunder, Erika K. & Liu, Edward C.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Expenditures

Description: In 1986, the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) was enacted to fund U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE or the Corps) activities related to the routine operation and maintenance (O&M) of harbors, namely the dredging of harbor channels to their authorized depths and widths. Economic and equity issues related to HMT expenditures and collections are the main focus of this report. Before analyzing these issues, the report reviews the legislative history of the tax and legal challenges to it, discusses t… more
Date: January 10, 2011
Creator: Frittelli, John
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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What Effects Would the Expiration of the 2001 and 2003 Tax Cuts Have on the Economy?

Description: In 2001 and 2003, Congress enacted major tax cuts (popularly referred to as the "Bush tax cuts"), the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. Congress is currently debating whether to extend some or all of these tax cuts that are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. This report discusses the two main economic arguments against allowing the tax cuts to expire as scheduled, using historical evidence and by examini… more
Date: October 5, 2010
Creator: Labonte, Marc
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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